Australia 190 Family Health and Character 2026: Who Must Be Checked
According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs page Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190), reflecting the official page as of July 2026, any family member who applies for the visa with you must meet Australia’s health requirement, and accompanying family members aged 16 years or over must also meet the character requirement. Family members who are not coming to Australia are not outside the system: the same page says non-accompanying family members must also meet the character requirement, and health may be requested from them if the Department asks. This article is general planning information rather than personalised professional advice, so rely on the current official guidance or a qualified adviser for any family member’s own health, criminal-history, or outstanding-debt circumstances.
Below we follow the order families usually need: who counts as family, how health and character attach to each person, what happens to relatives staying behind, and which related conditions can still catch someone who does not apply.
Who counts as family on a Subclass 190 application?
The official page lets you include members of the family unit when you lodge the application, or add them later before a decision is made. It refers repeatedly to “any family who apply for the visa with you,” and it asks you to explain why a partner or dependent children were not included if they are left out. The Migration Regulations’ secondary-applicant criteria and PAM3 describe secondary applicants in this context as your partner — including a de facto partner — and dependent children. Because “member of the family unit” is the controlling idea, anyone outside that group is not drawn into the 190 assessment through your application in the way a partner or dependent child is.
Does every accompanying dependent need a health check?
Yes. The health rule applies to “you and any family who apply for the visa with you,” and the official page states no minimum age exemption. Assume a clearly hypothetical scenario: you include a partner and a school-age child. Both are inside the health requirement, even though only the partner is inside the 16-plus character rule, because health attaches to every applicant regardless of age. You can expect to pay separately for health checks, police certificates and biometrics, since the visa page lists those as possible extra costs.
A family member aged 18 or older who does not have functional English may later be asked to pay a second instalment; the official page only charges this if and when the Department asks, and it asks only if it is going to grant the visa. For family members, the stated second instalment charge is AUD 4,885.
Do children under 16 avoid the character requirement?
The official page imposes character on “you and family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you.” On the face of that sentence, an accompanying child under 16 is not pulled into character, while every accompanying person is still pulled into health. For non-accompanying relatives, the page says more broadly that family members not accompanying you must also meet the character requirement, without repeating the 16-plus wording.
The Migration Regulations and PAM3 take the broader view that all accompanying secondary applicants must satisfy the character public interest criterion and section 501, and they list further Schedule 2 criteria for secondary applicants — PIC 4019 for those aged 18 or over, and PIC 4017/4018 for those under 18. The Department’s webpage is the controlling statement of this visa’s requirements; unusual child circumstances should be checked against the Department’s current character requirement page.
Do relatives staying behind escape health and character screening?
No automatic escape exists for character. The eligibility page states: “Family members not accompanying you to Australia must also meet the character requirement.” Health is expressed more softly: non-accompanying family members might also need to meet health if the Department requests it. The government-debt condition goes furthest, because it expressly applies to you and any family members “including those who do not apply for the visa with you” — if anyone owes the Australian Government money, it must have been repaid or an arrangement to repay must be in place. A relative who never fills in the application can therefore still matter to your case through character and debt, and possibly through a requested health check.
What does “one fails, all fails” mean, and is there a health cost threshold?
PAM3 explains the health criterion with the phrase “one fails, all fail”: the main applicant and secondary applicants, including non-applying family members, must satisfy the standard for the visa to be granted. It adds that requiring a health examination from a non-applying family member can be waived where that would be unreasonable. PAM3 also puts the health significant-cost threshold at about AUD 86,000 as at 2026, up from AUD 51,000 from April 2024; confirm the current figure on the Department’s health requirement page. PAM3 itself notes that it is policy guidance rather than law.
What character issues trigger closer review, and what documents are involved?
The character criterion, PIC 4001, covers substantial criminal records, associations with criminal organisations, and being a risk to the Australian community. It adds that any criminal record, pending charge, or interest from an intelligence agency can trigger strict scrutiny. On documents, PAM3 lists police certificates from Australia and from any country where the person lived for more than 12 months in the past 10 years; the official visa page only refers to police certificates as a possible extra cost, so confirm the exact current list on the official character requirement page. Separately, the official eligibility page requires applicants aged 18 or over to have read, or had explained to them, the Life in Australia publication and to sign an Australian Values Statement confirming they will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws.
Frequently asked questions
Do babies and young children need 190 health checks?
Yes. The official health requirement covers any family member who applies with you, and it states no age exemption. Assume a newborn added to the application before the decision: the child becomes an applicant, so health applies. Character attaches later at age 16 for an accompanying family member, but health is usually arranged for everyone regardless of age.
Can I leave my partner or child out to avoid their health or character problem?
Being left out does not remove character, because non-accompanying family members must still meet the character requirement and may still be asked to meet health if requested. The official page also expects you to explain why a partner or dependent child was not included. Assume a partner with a character issue stays overseas: the character rule can still reach that person, so leaving them out is not a safe planning shortcut.
Must non-accompanying relatives actually do health exams?
Only if the Department requests them. The page uses permissive wording: non-accompanying family members might also need to meet health if asked. If a request is made, the normal health assessment follows. Without a request, the mandatory non-accompanying condition stated on the page is character, not health.
What is the second instalment charge for a family member?
The official visa page says the second instalment is charged only if the Department asks and only where it is going to grant the visa. It applies to an applicant aged 18 or older with less than functional English. For family members, the stated amount is AUD 4,885, and you should not pay it unless asked.
Who has to sign the Australian Values Statement?
The eligibility page frames this as an applicant-level condition for anyone aged 18 or older. Such applicants must have read, or had explained to them, the Life in Australia publication, and must sign an Australian Values Statement when they apply. In a family application this means any included family member who is an applicant aged 18 or over should be prepared to meet it, not only the main skilled applicant.
Is there a deadline to add family after lodging the application?
Yes. The official visa page says you can add family members after you lodge but before the Department decides the visa. Once a decision is made, adding them through this application is no longer available. That timing matters, because adding before decision keeps them inside the accompanying-applicant rules rather than the non-accompanying rules.
What happens if someone required to meet character fails?
Failure to meet a required character standard is not compatible with the visa being granted, and character failure and health failure are among the common refusal grounds listed in the Migration Regulations and PAM3. Because decisions depend on individual facts, this article cannot say what will happen in a specific case, so families usually assess possible issues against the current official pages before lodging.
References
Australian Department of Home Affairs — Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190)
Federal Register of Legislation — Migration Regulations 1994 (Subclass 190) and PAM3 policy guidance