PIC 4017 and 4018 in Subclass 445 cases 2026: parental responsibility and child orders
How PIC 4017 and PIC 4018 apply to under-18 Subclass 445 applicants, and what consent or child order evidence is needed.
For a child under 18 applying for a Dependent Child visa (Subclass 445), two public interest criteria decide most contested cases: PIC 4017, which deals with who can legally decide where the child lives and whether the child may travel to Australia, and PIC 4018, the separate best interests of the child test. Under clause 445.226 of the Migration Regulations 1994, an applicant who is under 18 at the time of application must satisfy both, and the Department of Home Affairs' official Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) page (as at July 2026) sets out both requirements in plain terms: consent to travel to Australia, and best interests of the child. This article is general information only, not advice about your own circumstances, and the current official wording published by the Department should always be treated as the authority.
What are PIC 4017 and PIC 4018, and who has to meet them?
PIC 4017 is the criterion about parental responsibility and consent. PIC 4018 is the criterion about whether granting the visa would be in the best interests of an applicant who is under 18. Both are triggered by age at the time the application is made, not by age at the time of decision: clause 445.226 attaches them to applicants who are under 18 when applying, while an applicant who is already 18 at that point is assessed against PIC 4019 (the Australian values statement) instead.
Both criteria also reach beyond the child who is named on the form. Clause 445.227 extends public interest criteria to the applicant's family members whether or not they are travelling to Australia with the child, and clause 445.228 applies PIC 4015 and PIC 4016 to additional applicants under 18 in a combined application. In practice this means a dispute about one child, or an issue affecting a family member who is not migrating, can affect the whole application.
The rest of the public interest criteria for Subclass 445 — PIC 4001, 4002, 4003, 4004, 4007, 4009, 4020 and 4021 — apply regardless of age. Health is assessed to the standard used for permanent visas.
What satisfies the consent requirement in PIC 4017?
The Department's official page states that the visa will only be granted to a child younger than 18 if one of three things is true:
| Test | What the official page requires |
|---|---|
| Written consent | The child has the written consent of everyone who can legally decide where they live |
| Home country law | The laws of the child's home country allow them to leave their home country |
| Australian child order | The grant is consistent with any Australian child order about the child |
The first limb is the one that causes most problems, because "everyone who can legally decide where they live" is not the same as "the parent the child lives with". A parent who has not been part of the migration plan, or who no longer has day-to-day care, may still hold parental responsibility, and if so their written consent is needed unless another limb applies.
The third limb matters where a court has already decided who the child lives with or whether the child may be taken overseas. The Department's page links the phrase "Australian child order" to the Attorney-General's Department material on the registration of overseas child orders, which is where the recognition of overseas orders is dealt with. What the visa criterion asks is narrower: whether granting the visa would be consistent with any Australian child order about that child. A grant that would cut across such an order is not a legitimate alternative to consent.
Assume an applicant is 15 and lives with their mother, who holds a Subclass 820 visa, and the child is sponsored by the person who sponsored the mother's permanent Partner visa application. Suppose a court order made in Australia gives the father joint parental responsibility and requires agreement before the child leaves the country. On the official wording, the mother's consent alone does not satisfy PIC 4017: the father is also someone who can legally decide where the child lives, so either his written consent is provided, or the grant has to be consistent with the order and with any Australian child order that has been registered.
How does the best interests test in PIC 4018 work?
PIC 4018 is assessed separately from consent. The Department's official page puts it simply: it might not grant the visa if it is not in the best interests of an applicant under 18. The legislation does not publish a fixed checklist for this criterion on the subclass 445 page, so the assessment turns on the individual circumstances put before the decision maker — the child's care arrangements, who holds parental responsibility, and what the grant would mean for the child in practice.
The two criteria do not substitute for each other. Consent from every person with parental responsibility does not settle the best interests question, and strong best interests arguments do not repair a missing consent. Because both sit under clause 445.226, an applicant under 18 has to clear both.
Where do Subclass 445 refusals on these criteria usually come from?
Guidance material for Subclass 445 lists failure to meet PIC 4017 or PIC 4018 among the recurring grounds for refusal, usually described as custody or best interests disputes, and it also lists the "one fails, all fail" effect of clauses 445.227 and 445.228 as a separate ground. The pattern that follows from the criteria themselves is straightforward:
- one person with parental responsibility was not identified, or their consent was never obtained;
- the consent given was not written, or did not come from everyone who can legally decide where the child lives;
- the application relied on an overseas arrangement that has not been recognised as an Australian child order;
- the proposed travel would be inconsistent with an Australian child order already in place;
- best interests was treated as settled by the consent, and nothing was put forward on the child's circumstances.
What else does a Subclass 445 applicant have to show?
PIC 4017 and PIC 4018 sit inside a longer eligibility list. The official page requires the child to be dependent on a parent who holds a Subclass 309, Subclass 820 or Subclass 445 visa, to be sponsored by the same person who sponsored or nominated the parent's permanent Partner visa application, and to be under 18 or, if over 18, financially dependent on that parent. Sponsorship must be approved before the visa can be granted, and if the sponsor or their spouse or de facto partner has a pending registrable offence charge the sponsorship and the visa application will be refused; a registrable offence conviction can only be approved in very limited circumstances. Applicants aged 16 and over must meet the character requirement, applicants aged 18 or over must sign the Australian values statement, and any debt to the Australian Government must be repaid or formally arranged.
Documents typically associated with the under-18 criteria include the child's birth or parentage records, proof of who holds parental responsibility, written consents with identification for each person signing, and court or third-party records where family violence or parenting arrangements are part of the history. Where the parent's relationship has ended, the sponsorship rules in clause 445.223 allow the visa-holding parent to sponsor in some cases where the original sponsor has died or the relationship has ceased and the parent has requested consideration under family violence or parental arrangements provisions.
After a Subclass 445 visa is granted, the child must apply to be added to the parent's permanent Partner visa application, and the 445 visa runs to the end of the parent's temporary visa.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does PIC 4017 apply if the child is 17 when applying but turns 18 before the decision?
Clause 445.226 ties PIC 4017 and PIC 4018 to the applicant's age at the time of application, so a child who is under 18 when the application is lodged is assessed against both criteria. An applicant who is already 18 at that point is assessed against PIC 4019 instead, which requires the Australian values statement.
Whose written consent is actually needed?
The official page requires the written consent of everyone who can legally decide where the child lives. That can be more than one person, and it is not limited to the parent the child lives with or the parent who is migrating.
Can an Australian child order be used instead of consent?
Yes, in the sense that the official page lists consistency with any Australian child order about the child as one of the three ways the requirement can be met. The Attorney-General's Department is the body that deals with the registration of overseas child orders.
If the move is clearly best for the child, can that overcome missing consent?
No. PIC 4017 and PIC 4018 are separate criteria under clause 445.226 and both must be satisfied. The Department's page states the visa might not be granted if the grant is not in the best interests of an applicant under 18, which is a separate hurdle from consent.
Can a family member who is not migrating affect the child's application?
Yes. Clause 445.227 extends public interest criteria to family members whether or not they are coming to Australia with the child, and clause 445.228 applies PIC 4015 and PIC 4016 to additional applicants under 18 in a combined application.
Does meeting PIC 4017 and PIC 4018 mean the visa will be granted?
No. The applicant must also be a dependent child of a parent holding a Subclass 309, 820 or 445 visa, have an approved sponsorship, meet health and character requirements, and satisfy the remaining eligibility criteria on the Department's official page.