News

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is aware of a cyber incident impacting fertility service provider, Genea. 

Genea’s investigation into the cyber incident has found the personal details of some clients and staff were compromised. This may include Australian passports.

Genea is contacting impacted individuals directly.

Affected Australian passports are still safe to use for international travel. Your passport number cannot be used to obtain a new passport. Robust controls are used to protect passports from identity takeover, including sophisticated facial-recognition technology.  

See our page on protecting against scams and identity theft for more advice on how to safeguard your personal information.  

You can also seek help from IDCARE, a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in providing advice and support to Australians on how to respond to identity theft.    

More advice on what you can do to protect yourself and your family from cyber security incidents is available on the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) webpage at:  www.cyber.gov.au.

You should allow a minimum of 6 weeks to receive a passport. 

Child passports can take longer, particularly in cases without full parental consent. 

More information on our current processing timeframes is available on our website. 

If you need more certainty that your passport will be processed quickly, you may want to choose one of our faster processing services.

We’ve seen a rise in third-party providers offering to help process applications for travel documents, such as passports and visas, on your behalf.  

Some of these providers appear to offer their services as legitimate businesses, but for an extra fee.

However, others are scams designed to steal your money, your identity documents and/or personal details.  

The only way to avoid falling victim to a travel document scam, or being charged an unnecessary fee, is to lodge an application yourself.

Start your application online on the official Australian Passport Office website.  

If you think you have been scammed, visit IDCare for more information.  

Different countries have different rules, so it depends on where you're going.

Some of the most popular overseas destinations for Aussie travellers need you to have at least 6 months left on your passport from the date your trip ends. This includes places like Bali, for example.

Make sure you check the entry requirements for any countries you're planning to visit or transit through. Visit Smartraveller for the entry and exit requirements of your destinations.

Follow us on Facebook! You'll find everything from passport care tips and application advice to interesting facts about passports.

For instance, did you know that:

• children used to be included on their parent's passport
• there used to be different application forms for single and married people, and
• there are all kinds of hidden images in our passport that can only be seen under UV light.

Check out our page and follow us today:

www.facebook.com/AusPassportOffice