Character and Health Requirements for 590 Guardian Visa 2026
Yes — a Student Guardian visa (subclass 590) application can fail on health or character grounds even when the relationship, welfare and money questions are all clean. The visa is assessed against two separate public interest criteria: PIC 4005 for health and PIC 4001 for character, both attached to the primary applicant under clause 590.218 of the Migration Regulations 1994, with special return criteria 5001, 5002 and 5010 applied at 590.219. According to the Department of Home Affairs Student Guardian visa (Subclass 590) official page, applicants and any family members applying with them must meet the health requirement, and applicants who are a relative of the student visa holder must meet the character requirement.
Which health and character criteria actually apply to subclass 590?
The subclass 590 criteria sit in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. For the guardian themselves, clause 590.218 requires PIC 4005 (health) and PIC 4001 (character), and clause 590.219 adds the special return criteria 5001, 5002 and 5010. Secondary applicants — in practice, the children under six who can be included in the application — carry a longer list at clause 590.314: PIC 4001, 4002, 4003, 4004, 4005, 4010, 4013, 4014, 4017, 4018, 4020 and 4021, plus special return criteria 5001 and 5002 at 590.315.
That longer list matters for family planning because it introduces criteria the guardian is not directly tested on: 4017 and 4018 concern child protection and custody, and 4020 concerns false or misleading information. A guardian with an unremarkable own record can still be drawn into a character-adjacent problem through a document supplied for a child.
| Health (PIC 4005) | Character (PIC 4001) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it tests | Whether your condition would cost the Australian public health or community services too much | Whether your criminal record, conduct or associations make you of bad character |
| Typical trigger | Ongoing treatment, TB screening, care costs above the threshold | Convictions, conduct such as family violence or child abuse, security assessments |
| Who it covers | Applicant and accompanying family members | Applicant; additional PICs apply to secondary applicants |
| Evidence | Health examinations requested by the Department | Australian and overseas police certificates |
How high is the significant cost threshold, and what counts toward it?
The significant cost threshold is the number that decides most 590 health cases. The test is not whether you have a diagnosed condition; it is whether the condition is likely to result in a significant cost to the Australian community in health and community services.
Departmental policy guidance sets the threshold at approximately AUD 86,000 for 2026, following an increase from AUD 51,000 that took effect in April 2024, so the amount in force should be confirmed on the Department's health requirement page before making any assumption about your own case.
Two practical points follow from how the test is framed. First, it is an estimate of total projected cost over the relevant period, not a single bill, so ongoing medication, specialist care, hospital treatment and community services all feed into it. Second, the assessment is about public cost, not your ability to pay. Adequate health insurance is a separate criterion (clause 590.217) and the Department's page notes you are personally liable for your own healthcare costs in Australia; holding OVHC or a comparable policy limits your financial exposure but does not answer the PIC 4005 question.
When do tuberculosis screening and health exams get triggered?
You do not book your own health examinations up front for this visa. The Department's page states that it will tell you if health examinations are needed, and that it may also ask for biometrics (fingerprints and photo). The practical consequence is that health evidence arrives after lodgement, which is why the health question should be assessed before you apply rather than after.
Tuberculosis screening is one of the recurring reasons a 590 applicant is asked to undergo examination. Policy guidance ties TB testing to applicants from higher-risk countries, so a guardian's country of residence and travel history — not their symptoms — usually determines whether TB enters the assessment. HIV is handled differently: guidance notes that a positive status is not an automatic refusal, but the cost implications of treatment are assessed against the threshold like any other condition.
One health-related document is required at lodgement in defined circumstances: if you apply from outside Australia and are travelling from, or have spent time in, a country considered at risk of polio, you need to provide a polio vaccination certificate. The list of at-risk countries is maintained by the Department under threats to public health.
What kind of record or conduct triggers a character problem under PIC 4001?
PIC 4001 is broader than "do you have a conviction". Policy guidance identifies several distinct triggers: significant criminal records, particularly violence, sexual offences and drug offences; links to organised crime; adverse security assessments involving intelligence agencies; and conduct treated as bad character even without a conviction, such as family violence or child abuse.
The character assessment is the reason a 590 application with an immigration history needs to be read as a whole. The Department's eligibility page separately warns that it considers immigration history and that a previous visa cancellation or refusal can affect eligibility, which means an old problem that was never serious enough to block a visitor visa can still surface in a guardian assessment.
Which police certificates will the Department expect?
Where police certificates are required, the rules are specific about the issuing authority and the time calculation, and both are common sources of delay.
The Department's page sets out the following for applicants who are a relative of the student visa holder:
- You must provide an Australian police certificate if you have spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years since you turned 16.
- Only complete disclosure National Police Certificates issued by the Australian Federal Police are accepted. Standard disclosure certificates, and national police certificates issued by Australian state or territory police, are not accepted.
- You must also provide an overseas police certificate from every country — including your home country — where you spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since you turned 16.
The aggregation rule is the part families underestimate: separate visits that individually look short can add up to 12 months across a decade, and each country that crosses the line needs its own certificate.
What about accompanying children and child-protection criteria?
Children are where health and character overlap with welfare. The Department's page states it will not grant the visa if any member of the family unit is under six unless there are compelling and compassionate reasons, or granting the visa would significantly benefit the relationship between the Australian Government and another government. That applies even if the under-six child is not travelling to Australia with you, and if such a child is granted a visa, it is valid only until their sixth birthday.
For those children, the secondary-applicant criteria at clause 590.314 include PIC 4017 and 4018, which policy guidance frames as requiring no unresolved custody dispute and that the grant be in the child's best interests. The Department's eligibility page also notes it might not grant the visa if doing so would not be in the best interests of an applicant under 18.
What happens if a criterion is not met?
Failure is a refusal, not a request to restructure the application. The Department's page states it will not refund the application fee if the application is refused, and the decision notice will state the reason and whether there is a right to seek review. Separately, the page warns that if you cannot prove your identity, the application will be refused and you and listed family members might not be granted another visa for 10 years — a far more serious consequence than the refusal itself, and one that can follow from document problems rather than from health or character as such.
Policy guidance describes limited discretion in this area, including waiver pathways for certain public interest criteria where there are compelling or compassionate circumstances or where Australia's interests are affected, and a natural justice process under which a case officer who has information suggesting you may not meet a criterion must invite further information or comment. Any such pathway turns on the current published policy, so the operative wording should be read on the Department's health and character pages rather than assumed.
How should a family assess this risk before lodging?
Work through the two criteria separately, in the order a case officer would. Start with health: list every condition that will involve continuing treatment in Australia and ask, conservatively, whether its cost over the intended stay could approach the significant cost threshold. Then check whether your residence or travel history puts you in a TB screening country. Then move to character: list every country where you have spent 12 months or more since turning 16, and separately consider whether any conviction, charge or conduct — including matters that never resulted in a conviction — could fall within the categories policy guidance treats as bad character.
Assume, for illustration, a guardian who lived in three countries over the past decade, one of which is a TB screening country, and whose child has a condition requiring regular specialist review. The police certificate obligation is triggered for each country crossing the 12-month line, the TB screening is triggered by residence history, and the child's condition is assessed against the threshold as a secondary applicant — three separate workstreams, all of which need to be scoped before lodgement rather than discovered after the Department requests examinations.
This article is general information about published criteria and is not personalised advice about your circumstances; how the health and character criteria apply to any individual case depends on the full facts, and you should confirm the current wording and figures on the Department's official pages or with a qualified professional before acting on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a subclass 590 applicant automatically have to do a health exam?
No. The Department of Home Affairs states it will tell you if health examinations are needed, rather than requiring them at lodgement. Screening is commonly triggered by factors such as residence in a country with higher tuberculosis risk, and any condition with ongoing treatment costs is assessed against the significant cost threshold under PIC 4005.
What is the significant cost threshold for subclass 590 in 2026?
It is the estimated cost to Australian public health and community services above which PIC 4005 is not met. Departmental policy guidance places it at approximately AUD 86,000 for 2026, after an increase from AUD 51,000 effective April 2024, but the current figure should be confirmed on the Department's health requirement page.
Which police certificates does the Department accept for a 590 guardian?
For Australian certificates, only complete disclosure National Police Certificates issued by the Australian Federal Police are accepted; standard disclosure certificates and certificates from state or territory police are not. You also need an overseas police certificate from every country where you spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, including your home country.
Can a criminal record that is spent or old still affect a 590 application?
It can enter the assessment. PIC 4001 is not limited to current convictions, and policy guidance identifies violence, sexual and drug offences, organised crime links, adverse security assessments and conduct such as family violence or child abuse as triggers. The Department also considers immigration history, including previous cancellations and refusals.
Does having private health insurance satisfy the health requirement?
No. Adequate health insurance is a separate criterion under clause 590.217, and the Department notes you remain personally liable for healthcare costs in Australia. PIC 4005 asks whether your condition would impose a significant cost on Australian public health or community services, which insurance does not answer.
Can children included in the application be refused on character or health grounds?
Yes. Secondary applicants must meet their own list of public interest criteria at clause 590.314, including PIC 4005 and PIC 4001 as well as the child-protection criteria 4017 and 4018. Children under six can only be included where compelling and compassionate reasons exist, or where granting the visa would significantly benefit the relationship between the Australian Government and the government of another country, and their visa would end at their sixth birthday.
Is the fee refunded if the visa is refused on health or character grounds?
No. The Department of Home Affairs states it will not refund the application fee if an application is refused. The decision notice will give the reason for refusal and state whether the decision can be reviewed.