Child passport

You’ll need:

• your child’s full and original birth certificate showing the names of the child’s parents and the child’s full name at birth
• documents proving your child’s Australian citizenship
• 2 passport-sized photos of your child that meet our photo guidelines
• documents proving any change of name for your child, you or the other parent
• any court orders relating to your child
• any additional passport forms we need to establish who has parental responsibility for the child, or to allow the child to have a passport for travel.

When you lodge your application, you must bring the original documents with you.

You’ll need a guarantor to confirm your child’s identity. The guarantor must sign section 11 of your application form and the back of one of your child’s passport photos. They must use a black pen and write, 'This is a true photo of [your child’s full name]'.

The guarantor must be an adult Australian citizen who has known your child for more than 12 months. If the child is under one year old, the guarantor must have known the child since birth.

The guarantor must also have a current Australian passport with at least 2 years' validity, or be listed on the Australian electoral roll at their current address for at least 12 months.

The guarantor must not be:

• related to you or your child by birth or marriage
• anyone who has parental responsibility or legal guardianship of your child
• in a de facto or registered relationship with any person who has parental responsibility for your child
• living at the same address as your child or anyone with parental responsibility for them
• an Australian Passport Officer (including at overseas posts)
• an Australia Post employee.

Your application must include the details of your child's guarantor, including their:

• full name
• date of birth
• daytime phone number
• Australian passport details or their address as it appears on the electoral roll.

For more information, see Guarantors, referees and witnesses.

You can complete your application form online or use a paper form from a post office(Opens in a new tab/window).

Online form

You can complete the form online, but you must print it and lodge it at a participating post office.

1. Go to our application portal(Opens in a new tab/window).
2. Complete the online form.
3. Download and print the completed form. When printing, use:
   1. A4 size paper
   2. portrait orientation
   3. black ink
   4. 'Fit to page/printable area' in your printer settings.
4. Gather your documents, including your completed application form, your child’s passport photos, and original identity documents.
5. Lodge your application at a participating post office.

Paper form

1. Pick up a blank paper form from a post office – the child passport application form is purple.
2. Fill in the form.
3. Gather your documents, including your completed application form, your child’s passport photos, and original identity documents. 
    

Get parental consent

We encourage you to try and get consent from each person with parental responsibility for the child, where possible and safe to do so. A child passport application without full parental consent can take much longer to process.

You don’t need to get full parental consent if an Australian court order permits the child to:

• have an Australian passport
• travel internationally
• live or spend time with a person who is outside Australia.

If you don’t have full parental consent or a relevant Australian court order, see  Parental consent.

Everyone who's giving consent must complete sections 12 to 15 of the application form. 

If someone is overseas and cannot copmlete the sections of the child passport application in person, follow our parental consent instructions. If your child is aged 10 or older, they must also sign the form.

Who can be a witness

All parental consent signatures must be witnessed by someone aged over 18.

The witness must meet similar requirements to the guarantor. The witness must not be:

• related to you or your child by birth or marriage
• a person with parental responsibility or legal guardianship for your child
• in a de facto or registered relationship with any person who has parental responsibility for your child
• living at the same address as your child or anyone with parental responsibility for them
• an Australian Passport Officer (including at overseas posts)
• an Australia Post employee.

The witness does not need to be an Australian citizen. They may (but do not need to):

• act as a witness for more than one person giving consent
• be the child's guarantor.

The witness must provide their daytime phone number in case we need to contact them about the application.

Whether you complete an online or paper form, you need to lodge the application at a participating post office(Opens in a new tab/window). You also need to pay the  fee.

Bring your completed application form, your child’s passport photos, and the original documents requested on the application form. You'll also need to bring photo identification (such as a driver licence) that shows your photo, signature and current address.

If your child is aged 16 or 17, they must come with you when you lodge the application.

If you can’t lodge the application in person because you’re physically unable to do so, contact us.

Routine processing

Once you’ve lodged your child's passport application, you can check its status using your application number.

Allow at least 6 weeks from lodging your application to get your child’s new passport.

Faster processing

If you need your child's passport quickly, you may be eligible for faster processing for an extra fee.

There are 2 options for faster processing:

1. Priority (2-day processing) service: we process your application within 2 business days of receiving it.
2. Fast Track (5-day processing) service: we process your application within 5 business days of receiving it.

Faster processing is only available if your application is complete and lodged with full parental consent.

These timeframes also exclude postage and delivery times. For more information on faster processing and fees, see  Urgent travel.

Delivery and collection

We'll email you a Registered Post tracking number when we send your child's passport. We'll also send you an SMS asking you to check your email. Once sent, your child's passport should arrive in about a week.

If you need your passport sooner, you can choose to pick it up from your nearest passport office.

For more information, see Delivery and passport collection.