Health and Character screening for Subclass 802 in 2026: who is assessed and when

Health and character screening for a Child visa (Subclass 802) is not limited to the child named on the form. The child must meet the health requirement, every dependent child included in the application must meet it as well, and dependent children who are not applying — along with family members who are not coming to Australia — may also be assessed. Character screening is narrower: the official Child visa (Subclass 802) page of the Australian Department of Home Affairs, as of its August 2026 version, applies it to the child once they are aged 16 or over, and sometimes to dependent children applying with them. None of it is arranged at lodgement; the Department tells applicants when to book health examinations.

Who has to meet the health requirement?

Three groups appear on the Department's official page, and they are not the same size.

The child applying for the visa must meet the health requirement.
Any dependent children who apply for the visa with the child must meet it.
Dependent children who are not applying for the visa, and family members who are not migrating, might also need to meet it.

That last group is where most estimates go wrong. It is common to budget health examinations for the people whose names appear on the application, then discover later that someone deliberately left out still pulls those checks into scope.

Who	Health requirement	Character requirement on the official page
The child applying	Required	Required if aged 16 years and over
Dependent children included in the application	Required	The Department may also ask them to meet it
Dependent children not included in the application	May also need to be met	Not addressed
Other family members not coming to Australia	May also have to be met	Not addressed

Does the reach extend to family members who are not migrating?

The regulations go further than the official page's "might". Under the Subclass 802 criteria published with the Migration Regulations 1994, clause 802.223 sets the public interest criteria the applicant must satisfy at the time of decision, with an additional criterion (4019) added where the applicant had turned 18 when applying; clause 802.224 extends the relevant criteria to the applicant's family members whether or not they migrate, and clause 802.225 adds the criteria on child welfare (4017 and 4018) for applicants under 18.

So an agent should assume that "she is staying home with her grandparents" does not by itself remove anyone from scope. The criteria in force should be checked against the current text of the Migration Regulations 1994 and against the Department of Home Affairs' official Child visa (Subclass 802) page; where the two differ on what you file, the official page governs the application.

What triggers character screening, and at what age?

Character screening for this subclass attaches at 16. If the child is aged 16 years and over, they must meet the character requirement, and the Department may also ask for dependent children applying with them to meet it. Dependent-children documents listed for under-18s include character documents "if applicable", which is the Department's way of leaving the call to the assessing officer.

Three document triggers follow from the character requirement:

an Australian state or territory police certificate, where the person has lived in an Australian state or territory for at least 12 months;
a police certificate from an overseas country, where they have lived there for at least 12 months;
a military service record or discharge papers, where anyone included in the application has served in the armed forces of any country.

Children over 16 years of age must also complete and provide Form 80 (Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment). The 12-month residence periods are the practical yardstick — a short posting rarely prompts a certificate request, a full year in one jurisdiction usually does.

When are health examinations arranged — and should we book them early?

They are arranged after lodgement, on request. The Department states plainly that it will let you know when to arrange the child's health examinations, and that it might ask for biometrics and will tell you if the child needs to provide them. Booking examinations before that request risks paying for tests that do not match what the case needs, since the requests are generated per person and per application.

Subclass 802 is a paper application — Form 47CH and Form 40CH completed in English, posted or couriered to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, never lodged in person. That structure explains the rhythm after lodgement:

Wait for the acknowledgement letter.
Import the paper application into ImmiAccount using the application ID, the child's date of birth, and the passport, ImmiCard or Titre de Voyage number.
Use ImmiAccount to upload anything further the Department asks for, or use the Child and Orphan Relative Visa Processing Centre online form if ImmiAccount cannot be used.
Wait for the health examination request before booking.
Answer any further request promptly, since the Department does not provide progress updates within normal processing times.

What happens if a dependent child is added later?

The child's dependent children can be added at any time before a decision, which makes the "who is assessed" question answer twice. Each added dependent child must meet the health requirement, and documents are due for them: identity documents, travel documents, proof of the relationship such as a birth or marriage certificate, and character documents where applicable. Adding someone after lodgement therefore adds both cost and screening time to a case that may already be deep into assessment.

What do these checks cost on top of the visa charge?

The Department lists other possible costs for health exams, police certificates and biometrics, with a charge applying for each dependent child who applies for the visa. These sit outside the visa pricing estimator. From 1 July 2026 a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens lodging a valid application, and family members are eligible too, based on the primary applicant's passport — but that concession concerns the visa application charge, not the examination and certificate costs.

Who is allowed to charge for handling this work?

Only three categories of person can be appointed to give immigration assistance for this application: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Appointments are made on Form 956. Separately, anyone may be appointed simply to receive documents, using Form 956A. Keeping those two roles straight is useful when reviewing an invoice: receiving post is not the same as giving immigration assistance, and only the latter requires registration. This article is general information rather than advice on any individual case, and the assessment of a particular family's screening depends on facts the Department alone decides.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should we complete the health examination before lodging the 802 application?

No. The Department's official page says it will let you know when to arrange the child's health examinations. Booking early risks duplicated testing, because requests are issued per person after the application is received.

Does a dependent child who is staying behind need a medical examination?

Possibly. Dependent children who are not applying for the visa might also need to meet the health requirement, and the page states that family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet it.

At what age does my child need a police certificate and Form 80?

The character requirement applies once the child is aged 16 years and over, and children over 16 must complete Form 80. Certificates themselves are triggered by residence — 12 months in an Australian state or territory, or 12 months in an overseas country.

My family has lived in three countries — which certificates can be requested?

A certificate may be requested for each Australian state or territory where the person has lived for at least 12 months, and for each overseas country where they have lived for at least 12 months. Military service in any country brings its own record or discharge papers.

Can we add another dependent child after we have lodged?

Yes, any time before the Department makes a decision. The added child must meet the health requirement, and you will need to supply identity, travel and relationship documents, plus character documents where they apply.

What happens if someone does not meet the health requirement?

The health requirement is a condition of grant, and no one can predict how an individual assessment ends. If the application is refused, the Department advises that the application charge is not refunded. This summary is general in nature; how the requirement applies turns on the Department's assessment of the specific case.