Which character documents does a Subclass 407 applicant need in 2026?

For a Training visa (Subclass 407) application, the character documents you are expected to lodge are an Australian Federal Police (AFP) National Police Certificate if you have spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years since turning 16, military service records or discharge papers if you have served in the armed forces of any country, overseas police certificates if the Department of Home Affairs asks for them, and the completed Forms 80 and 1221. This summary follows the Department of Home Affairs "Training visa (Subclass 407)" page as at the August 2026 official page, and it is general information about published requirements rather than an assessment of any individual case — where your own history is complicated, the Department's page and the official criteria are the reference points, not this article.

What counts as a character document on a 407 application?

The Department's checklist for this visa groups five things under character documents:

An Australian police certificate — but only a complete disclosure National Police Certificate issued by the Australian Federal Police. The Department states it does not accept standard disclosure certificates, and does not accept national police certificates issued by Australian state or territory police.
Military service records or discharge papers — if you served in the armed forces of any country.
Overseas police certificates — from every country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since you turned 16, if you are asked for them.
Form 80 — Personal particulars for character assessment.
Form 1221 — Additional personal particulars information.

Both forms are listed as documents to complete and provide, not as optional extras. Everything else in the application — identity pages, sponsor approval letters, financial evidence, health insurance, functional English evidence — sits outside the character group, even though all of it is uploaded to the same ImmiAccount application.

Who has to meet the character requirement, and where does 16 come in?

The eligibility criteria state that you and family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you must meet the character requirement, and that the Department might also ask other family members to meet it. So 16 is the default line drawn in the eligibility criteria, while the police certificate triggers use their own arithmetic: 12 months or more, cumulative, in the last 10 years, counted from the day you turned 16.

The two rules are related but do different jobs. Turning 16 does not by itself create a police certificate requirement; it sets the window from which the 10 years and the 12 months are counted, and it marks the age from which a family member is expected to satisfy the character requirement as part of your application.

When is an Australian police certificate needed?

You provide one if you have spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years since you turned 16. Three details do most of the work here:

It is a cumulative total, not continuous residence. Separate stays add up to the 12 months.
The clock starts at 16. Time in Australia before your 16th birthday is outside the count.
Only AFP complete disclosure is accepted. A state or territory police certificate, or a standard disclosure certificate, will not satisfy the requirement, which means ordering the wrong product costs you both the fee and the time.

Hypothetically, an applicant who did two six-month placements in Australia five years apart, both after turning 16, reaches the 12-month total and would need the AFP certificate; an applicant whose only Australian stay was an eight-week course would not need one on this basis.

When will overseas police certificates be requested?

The Department's wording is discretionary: depending on your circumstances, it may ask you to provide an overseas police certificate from every country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since you turned 16. The same 12-month, 10-year, since-16 test applies, applied per country rather than to Australia alone.

Because the trigger is a request rather than a listed filing item, the practical consequence is that the rest of your character paperwork should be ready before you apply: Forms 80 and 1221 capture the residence history that such a request is usually based on, and a gap between those forms and your actual movements is what tends to slow an application down.

Why do Forms 80 and 1221 matter so much?

Form 80 (Personal particulars for character assessment) and Form 1221 (Additional personal particulars information) are the Department's structured record of who you are, where you have lived and what you have done. They are the documents that make the police certificate rules checkable, and they are required regardless of whether a police certificate is required of you. Treat the residence, employment and travel histories in them as the spine of the character part of the application: if a country would qualify under the 12-month test, it should appear in your history, and the certificate should follow if it is requested.

What do partners and dependants have to provide?

Character documents follow the person, not just the main applicant, but the list changes with age and relationship.

Person in the application	Character-related documents the Department lists
Main applicant	AFP complete disclosure certificate if the 12-month Australian residence test is met; military service records or discharge papers if applicable; overseas police certificates if requested; Forms 80 and 1221
Partner	Character documents (as above), plus identity documents, marriage certificate, and evidence of a genuine and continuing relationship
Family member aged 16 or over	Must meet the character requirement; the Department may also ask family members outside that group to meet it
Dependant aged 18 or under	No character documents are listed; instead birth certificates or the family book showing both parents' names, adoption papers if applicable, and Form 1229 or a statutory declaration of consent from anyone with legal responsibility who is not travelling
Dependant over 18	Character documents, plus identity documents and proof of dependency, including Form 47a

The pattern is straightforward: the 16-year line in the eligibility criteria is where the character obligation begins, the police certificate tests are the same for everyone who falls inside it, and dependants aged 16 or 17 fall inside that line even though the dependants-under-18 document list itself asks only for birth certificates or the family book, adoption papers and consent documents.

How does the character requirement fit the visa's legal criteria?

The Department's page presents character as one eligibility criterion among many, alongside an approved sponsor, an approved nomination, health, adequate health insurance, functional English and genuine temporary entrant intentions. Behind that criterion sit the public interest criteria in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which set the character standard as a matter of law; criterion numbers and their current wording are a matter for the legislation itself, so for anything that turns on the exact text, the official legislation and the Department's current page are what govern, and this article should be read as a summary of the published document checklist rather than as a substitute for them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a police certificate if I have never lived in Australia?

The Australian police certificate is tied to 12 months or more spent in Australia in the last 10 years since you turned 16, so no Australian certificate flows from that test if you have never lived there. The separate overseas police certificate requirement can still apply, because it is measured per country and can include your home country.

Are state or territory police certificates accepted for a 407 visa?

No. The Department states it only accepts complete disclosure National Police Certificates issued by the Australian Federal Police, and that it does not accept standard disclosure certificates or national police certificates issued by Australian state or territory police.

Do my family members need to provide Forms 80 and 1221?

Family members aged 16 and over who apply with you must meet the character requirement, and the partner and over-18 dependant checklists both list character documents. The Department may also ask other family members to meet the requirement, so prepare on the basis that each adult family member has their own set.

Is an overseas police certificate always required?

Not automatically. The Department's page says it may ask you to provide one from every country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since you turned 16; the wording makes it a request driven by your circumstances rather than a fixed filing item.

Do I need to submit military service records if I never served?

No. Military service records or discharge papers are listed only for applicants who served in the armed forces of any country, so the item simply does not apply to someone without service history.

What happens if my child is under 18 and applying with me?

The Department's checklist for dependants aged 18 or under does not include character documents; it asks for birth certificates or the family book showing both parents' names, adoption papers if applicable, and consent from anyone with a legal right to decide where the child lives who is not coming to Australia, given on Form 1229 or by statutory declaration.