character requirement and the Validity of police clearance certificates

Character requirements for visas

​You must be of good character to visit or live in Australia. This means you must pass the character test, and remain of good character.

​Meeting the requirements

​You may not pass the character requirements if you have a substantial criminal record or your past and present criminal or general conduct shows that you are not of good character.
If you are not completely honest about your criminal history, the department may refuse your application.
The character requirements consist of:
·         a police certificate
·         Form 80 Personal particulars for character assessment (554KB PDF)
·         complete a character statutory declaration (80KB PDF)
·         provide a military certificate
·         provide a letter of good conduct from an employer

​Police certificates

If you are over 17 and have lived in a country, including Australia, for at least 12 months in the past 10 years, the department may ask you to provide a police certificate (also called a penal clearance certificate) from every country you lived in.
Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date. They must cover:
·         the time you turned 16 up to the issue date
or
·         the whole time you were in the country

Police Clearance Certificates – Validity Issues

There has been some confusion in relation to the police certificate validity requirements.
These are as follows:

• For visa assessment purposes, all police certificates issued are considered valid for 12 months from the date of issue, regardless of the period specified by the issuing country.
• If the applicant returns to the country that issued the police certificate during the certificate’s validity, it will generally not affect the validity.
• Where an overseas police certificate has expired and the applicant has returned to the country that issued the certificate for more than two months in total (as a cumulative period) since the certificate expired, a new certificate will need to be provided.
• Where a certificate has expired and the applicant has NOT returned to the country that issued the certificate, a new certificate is not required.

Apply for a police certificate

​See how to apply for a police certificate in the relevant countries.
To get a police certificate in Australia you must submit an Australian Federal Police National Police Check application form.