Do I need a lawyer or a migration agent?

Many visa applications are lodged directly. A registered migration agent or immigration lawyer helps with complex or refused matters.

What is a Section 48 bar?

It limits the visas you can apply for while unlawfully in Australia after a refusal or cancellation. A professional can map your options.

Can I appeal a refused visa?

Often yes — the Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviews many decisions, but strict time limits apply.

Family Violence Provisions in Subclass 116 Carer Applications in 2026

How the family violence provisions apply in a 2026 Subclass 116 Carer application: the clauses, disclosure duties and notification channels.

A spouse or de facto partner whose relationship with the main applicant has ended because of family violence is not automatically excluded from a Subclass 116 (Carer) application. The carve-out comes from Division 1.5 of the Migration Regulations 1994 — the special provisions dealing with family violence — and is carried into the Subclass 116 criteria by clauses 116.311 and 116.321, which let a former spouse or de facto partner continue as a secondary applicant where the relationship broke down for that reason. As at July 2026, the Department of Home Affairs' Carer visa (Subclass 116) official page also lists experiencing domestic or family violence among the changes that must be notified after an application is lodged.

The provision is not self-executing, though. It has to be raised, and it has to be raised through the right channel while the application is still on foot. What follows is general information about how the rules fit together, not advice on an individual case — the current official text and the Regulations should be checked against your own circumstances.

Which clauses bring the family violence provisions into a 116 application?

Three layers do the work, and it helps to keep them separate:

Division 1.5 of the Migration Regulations 1994 contains the special family violence provisions that allow an affected secondary applicant to continue with a visa application rather than fall out of it when the relationship ends.
Clause 116.311 (time of application) requires a secondary applicant to be a family member of the main applicant and to be included in the same combined application — with the express exception that a spouse or de facto partner whose relationship ended because of family violence can still be a secondary applicant.
Clause 116.321 (time of decision) sets out who can actually be granted: under (2), a family member of a person granted the Subclass 116 who applied together; under (3) or (4), a former spouse or de facto partner of the main applicant whose relationship ended because of family violence and who meets the related conditions; under (5), a family member of a secondary applicant who meets (3) or (4).

The relationship concepts behind those clauses come from elsewhere in the legislation: "spouse" is defined in section 5F of the Migration Act 1958, "de facto partner" in section 5CB, and regulations 1.15A and 1.09A deal with how spouse and de facto relationships are assessed. Because the family violence conditions themselves sit in Division 1.5 rather than in the 116 clause, the operative detail has to be read from the Regulations as currently in force.

What has to be true at application time, and what at decision time?

The two stages ask different questions, and a case can satisfy one and fail the other.

At the time of application, clause 116.311 is about who is in the combined application and why. At the time of decision, clause 116.321 is about which category the person now falls into — a continuing family member, or a former partner relying on the family violence provisions. The distinction matters because the evidence points in different directions: one shows an ongoing relationship, the other shows a relationship that ended for a reason the Regulations recognise.

The rest of the secondary applicant criteria still apply regardless of which limb is used:

116.312 and 116.322 — sponsorship must cover the secondary applicant, and there must be a qualifying sponsor.
116.323 — public interest criteria 4001–4005, 4009, 4010, 4020 and 4021, plus 4019 (no unpaid government health debt) for anyone 18 or over.
116.324 — special return criterion 5001.
116.326 — for secondary applicants under 18, criteria 4017 and 4018 on parental consent and child welfare.
116.327 — where a secondary applicant relies on the family violence provisions, their own family members must also meet the relevant public interest criteria.

Do you have to raise the family violence yourself?

Yes. Silence is the risk here, not the family violence itself.

The Department's Carer visa (Subclass 116) official page sets out a "tell us if things change" list after lodgement, and it covers changes to marital or de facto status as well as experiencing domestic or family violence, which it links to its Family violence provisions page. A partner declared on the application is part of the answers that were given; if that relationship ends, those answers no longer describe the situation.

Public interest criteria 4020 and 4021 are the clauses that deal with false or misleading information and bogus documents. A refusal on that basis can carry a bar of three or ten years on further applications, so an uncorrected change is a far more expensive problem than the disclosure itself. Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers exists for exactly this purpose when something already submitted has become wrong.

Which channels does the Department use for notifying family violence in a 116 case?

Subclass 116 is a paper application — Form 47OF, lodged while the applicant is outside Australia, posted to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth — so the notification route depends on what happens after lodgement:

Import the paper application into ImmiAccount once the acknowledgement letter arrives, using the application ID, date of birth and identity document number. That unlocks the online services: attaching supporting documents, updating details, viewing messages and checking status.
Upload through ImmiAccount once the application has been imported. Additional documents, including a completed Form 1023, can be uploaded there.
Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form applies where ImmiAccount is not being used, or where the application was lodged outside Australia before 25 June 2020.

Consider a hypothetical applicant: a main applicant lodges Form 47OF outside Australia with a partner included as a secondary applicant, and the relationship ends because of family violence months later while the application is still with the Department. The route is to correct the answers already given (Form 1023), notify the change in marital or de facto status, and put the family violence material before the Department through the same change-of-circumstances channel rather than holding it back until a case officer asks.

Practitioner guidance on the provision commonly points to documents such as police reports, court protection orders and medical or counselling records as the kind of material put forward. Evidentiary expectations are published on the Department's Family violence provisions page and can change, so the current official wording is what counts.

Can children and other family members stay in the application too?

They can, if they fall within the family violence limb. Clause 116.321(5) covers family members of a secondary applicant who qualifies under (3) or (4), and clause 116.327 requires those family members to meet the public interest criteria themselves. A child under 18 additionally needs criteria 4017 and 4018.

Documentarily, the official page asks for identity documents, proof of the relationship (such as a birth certificate) and character documents for each dependant under 18. Dependants over 18 are only included on narrower grounds: over 18 and under 23 and dependent on the applicant or their partner, or over 23 and unable to earn a living because of physical or cognitive limitations and dependent on the applicant or their partner. Form 47a is required for a child or other dependent family member aged 18 or over, together with proof of financial dependency, and a medical practitioner's report is required if the child is 23 or likely to turn 23 while the application is being processed.

What does the family violence provision not change?

It changes who can be included. It does not relax the rest of the Subclass 116 criteria, and the core of those criteria is still the care itself.

Clause 116.221 and regulation 1.15AA — the applicant must still be confirmed as a "carer": the Australian relative has a long-term or permanent health problem that leaves them unable to carry out at least four daily living activities such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, moving about or communicating; care is not reasonably available in Australia; and the applicant is willing and able to provide direct, continuing and substantial care.
Evidence of care access — a Bupa Medical Visa Services certificate stating the medical condition and the care required, plus written evidence that the relative does not have reasonable access to care options in Australia. The Department will not accept the application unless that assessment process has at least begun; if the certificate was not lodged with the application, it is due within three months of applying, and the visa cannot be granted without it.
Clause 116.222 — the sponsorship must be approved and still in force.
Location — the applicant must be outside Australia when applying and when the decision is made, and travel should not be arranged until the grant is notified in writing.
Money — a second instalment is payable when invoiced, after all other requirements are met; the Department may consider reducing it to nil if you can show it is likely to cause severe financial hardship to the applicant or the person being cared for, but not for anyone else applying at the same time. The application fee is not refunded if the visa is refused.

Failing the carer definition remains the most commonly cited refusal ground for this visa, which is the practical reason a family violence claim cannot carry a thin care case on its own.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my partner still be included if we separated because of family violence?

In principle, yes. Clause 116.311 allows a spouse or de facto partner whose relationship ended because of family violence to remain a secondary applicant in the combined application, and clause 116.321(3)–(4) allows them to be assessed at decision time as a former partner meeting the Division 1.5 conditions. The relationship does not have to be continuing for the inclusion to work.

Do I have to tell the Department, or can I mention it later?

The Carer visa (Subclass 116) official page lists both a change in marital or de facto status and experiencing domestic or family violence among the changes that must be notified after applying. Leaving a breakdown unreported leaves incorrect answers on the file, and criteria 4020 and 4021 on false or misleading information can lead to refusal and a three- or ten-year bar. Notifying early is the safer sequence.

Is there a special family violence form for Subclass 116?

No separate form is listed for this visa on the official page. Notification runs through the general change-of-circumstances channels: documents uploaded to ImmiAccount after the paper application is imported, Form 1023 for incorrect answers already given, and the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form where ImmiAccount is not available. The Department's Family violence provisions page is the reference point for what the claim itself requires.

Can my children stay in the application as well?

Yes, where they come within the family violence limb. Clause 116.321(5) covers family members of a secondary applicant who qualifies under (3) or (4), and clause 116.327 makes those family members meet the public interest criteria themselves. Children under 18 also need criteria 4017 and 4018 covering parental consent and child welfare.

Does a family violence claim affect the carer requirements?

No. The main applicant still has to satisfy clause 116.221 and the "carer" definition in regulation 1.15AA, the sponsorship still has to be approved under clause 116.222, and the Bupa Medical Visa Services certificate still has to be provided. If that certificate was not lodged with the application, it is due within three months of applying and in any event before the decision, or the visa cannot be granted.

Do I still need to be outside Australia?

Yes. Subclass 116 is applied for on paper and requires the applicant to be outside Australia both when applying and when the decision is made; travel should not be arranged until the grant is notified in writing. The family violence provisions determine who can be included in the application, not where it is decided.