Police Certificates for Subclass 101 in 2026: Code 33, Form 80 and the 12-Month Validity Rule

For a Child visa (subclass 101) applicant over 16, the police certificate rule is narrower than most people expect: certificates are needed from every country where the applicant has spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, and for Australia the Department of Home Affairs accepts only a National Police Certificate applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship, issued by the Australian Federal Police. Standard disclosure certificates and certificates issued by Australian state or territory police are not accepted. This reflects the Department of Home Affairs Child visa (Subclass 101) official page as at August 2026, together with the character and eligibility criteria set out on the same page. This article is general information only and is not personalised advice; check the current official page or seek professional advice for your own circumstances.

Who actually has to provide police certificates?

Only children over 16 must provide them. The Department states that children over 16 must provide police certificates from every country they have spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years, since turning 16.

Two details in that sentence do most of the work:

The 10-year window is counted since turning 16, not since birth. Time spent in a country before the applicant turned 16 is not counted toward the 12-month threshold.
The trigger is total time spent in a country within that 10-year window. The Department's wording does not say whether separate stays are added together or must be continuous, so where separate stays could together reach 12 months or more, the prudent course is to obtain a certificate for that country.

If the applicant has dependent children under 18 who are applying with them, character documents are listed as required "if applicable" for each such dependant, alongside identity, travel and relationship documents.

Why only Code 33, and why state police certificates fail

For the Australian component, the Department is explicit: it accepts only National Police Certificates applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship, which the Australian Federal Police issue. It does not accept standard disclosure certificates, and it does not accept certificates issued by Australian state or territory police.

This is the single most common and most avoidable defect in a subclass 101 document set. A certificate obtained for employment, volunteering or a state-based working-with-children check is a different product from a Code 33 certificate, even when it comes from a police force and looks official. Submitting it means the Australian character document has not been provided at all.

The distinction matters in practice because an applicant can spend time in Australia across several states. A state-by-state approach — collecting a certificate from each jurisdiction where the applicant lived — does not satisfy the requirement. The Code 33 check is a national check through the AFP, and it is the one the Department has said it will accept.

Document	Accepted for the Australian police certificate requirement?
AFP National Police Certificate applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship	Yes — this is the accepted document
Standard disclosure certificate	No
Certificate issued by Australian state or territory police	No

How long is a police certificate valid?

For immigration purposes, police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date. The clock runs from the date of issue, not from the date the application is lodged or the date a case officer asks for documents.

This is what makes the 12-month rule a planning problem rather than a paperwork problem. Subclass 101 is a paper application, and the Department confirms in writing that it does not provide progress updates within global visa processing times. If a certificate is obtained early and the decision takes longer than a year, the certificate may pass its 12-month validity date while the application is still open, and the applicant may be asked to provide a fresh one. Applying for the certificates close to lodgement, so the 12-month window has the best chance of covering the assessment period, is generally the safer sequencing.

Form 80 and military service records

Two further character documents sit alongside the police certificates:

Form 80 (Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment). Children over 16 years must complete and provide it.
Military service records or discharge papers. If anyone in the application served in the armed forces of any country, those records or discharge papers must be provided.

The military record obligation is not limited by the applicant's age in the way the police certificate obligation is — the Department frames it as applying to "anyone in the application", that is, each person included in the visa application.

Does the character requirement stop at the child?

No. The eligibility criteria state that if the child is aged 16 or over they must meet the character requirement, and that the Department might also ask that other family members meet the requirement. The subclass 101 character documents therefore should be treated as a household-level exercise rather than a single-person task: the child's certificates and Form 80 are certain, and other family members' documents may be requested.

Separately, the sponsorship itself carries a child-protection overlay. If the sponsor and/or their spouse or de facto partner have a pending registrable offence charge, the Department states it will refuse the sponsorship and visa application; where there is a registrable offence conviction, it can approve the sponsorship only in very limited circumstances. This sits on the sponsor side of the file and is distinct from the police certificate requirement, but both are character-adjacent and both can determine the outcome.

What happens if documents are missing or wrong?

A subclass 101 application must be lodged on paper, using Form 47CH and Form 40CH sent together by post or courier to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth. The Department states that if any of the steps are incomplete, the application may be invalid, that it does not process invalid applications, and that it will notify the applicant if this is the case.

Missing character documents are more likely to produce a request than an invalidity finding, and after lodgement the Department may ask for more information. However, the Department also warns that where a child's identity cannot be established or false information is provided, there are consequences, and it directs applicants to provide accurate information. The safe reading for an applicant is to lodge with the full character set already in hand, including the correct Code 33 certificate, rather than to treat it as something to fix later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a subclass 101 applicant under 16 need a police certificate?

No. The Department requires police certificates only from children over 16, covering countries where they have spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16. Applicants under 16 are not covered by this part of the character document requirement.

Why was my state police certificate rejected?

Because the Department does not accept certificates issued by Australian state or territory police for this visa, nor standard disclosure certificates. Only a National Police Certificate applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship and issued by the Australian Federal Police is accepted for the Australian component.

How is the 10-year period counted?

It is counted since the applicant turned 16, and the trigger is having spent 12 months or more in a country within that window. Time lived in a country before turning 16 does not count toward the threshold.

When should I apply for the police certificates?

Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date for immigration purposes. Because the Department does not give progress updates within global visa processing times, obtaining them close to lodgement reduces the risk that they expire while the application is still being assessed.

Does everyone in the application need Form 80?

Children over 16 years must complete and provide Form 80 (Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment). Separately, if anyone in the application served in the armed forces of any country, military service records or discharge papers must be provided.

Can other family members be asked for character documents?

Yes. The Department states it might also ask that other family members meet the character requirement, in addition to the child aged 16 or over. Assume the request can extend beyond the main applicant when planning the document set.