The character test
Section 501 of the Migration Act lets a visa be refused or cancelled where a person does not pass the character test. It reaches far beyond serious crime - and the response deadlines it sets are among the shortest in the entire system.
28 days to revoke
A mandatory s 501(3A) cancellation allows just 28 days to request revocation. Other character deadlines can be shorter still, especially in detention. Date-stamp your notice and get advice immediately.
Urgent intakeThe character grounds
Substantial record
A person has a ‘substantial criminal record’ - and fails the test - where they have been sentenced to 12 months or more imprisonment, including cumulative and, in defined circumstances, suspended sentences. This is the most common trigger.
Mandatory cancellation
If you are in Australia serving a full-time sentence for an offence and have a substantial criminal record, your visa must be cancelled. It is then for you to request revocation within 28 days - a decision that turns on the current ministerial direction.
Beyond convictions
The test also reaches association with people involved in criminal conduct, past and present general conduct, and an assessed risk of future harm to the community - so a person can engage it without a substantial record at all.
PIC 4001
Most visas also require the applicant to satisfy the character public interest criterion, PIC 4001. A character concern can therefore sink an ordinary visa application, not just expose an existing visa to cancellation.
EGH19 v Commonwealth
In EGH19 v Commonwealth [2026] HCA 7, the High Court held that curfew and electronic-monitoring conditions imposed on Bridging R (subclass 070) visas were invalid: punishing people is exclusively a matter for the courts under Chapter III of the Constitution, and the regulation-making power in the Migration Act cannot be used to impose punitive conditions. It is the second decision in this line, after YBFZ (2024).
For anyone in the character system, the message is practical: the conditions attached to a visa may themselves be open to challenge, and the outer limits of the Department’s powers are being actively litigated and redrawn - so advice from 2025 or earlier may already be out of date.
Why it matters here
- • BVR holders: curfew and monitoring conditions of the kind struck down are no longer enforceable - have your current conditions reviewed.
- • Character clients: condition-validity and constitutional arguments now sit alongside revocation and merits review as live strategies.
- • Expect further regulation redrafting - the boundaries in this area keep shifting.
Answering a character concern
Character matters are among the most heavily litigated areas of migration law, and the outcome usually turns on how well the response addresses the factors in the current ministerial direction. A considered, well-evidenced response - filed on time - is decisive.
Revocation requests - 28 days
Where a visa is mandatorily cancelled, submissions address the ministerial direction: the protection of the community, the best interests of children, ties to Australia, rehabilitation and the expectations of the community. See our cancellations page.
Merits review
Many character decisions can be reviewed by the ART on extremely tight timeframes (application fee $3,727 for most migration reviews as at 3 July 2026). Character matters carry some of the shortest windows in the system.
Court & intervention
Where a decision is legally flawed, judicial review is the backstop, and in unique and exceptional cases a ministerial intervention request may be open.
Fees current as at 3 July 2026 (FY2026‑27); the charge at lodgement date applies - confirm at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au and art.gov.au.
Character test FAQs
What is the character test?
The character test in section 501 of the Migration Act sets out when a person is taken not to be of good character for visa purposes. It covers having a substantial criminal record, association with criminal conduct, past and present general conduct, and an assessed risk of future harm. Failing it exposes a visa to refusal or cancellation.
What is a ‘substantial criminal record’?
The clearest way a person fails the test is a substantial criminal record - generally, a sentence of 12 months or more imprisonment, including where cumulative sentences add up to that period and, in defined circumstances, suspended sentences. A person can also engage the test on other grounds without any such record.
My visa was cancelled while I was in prison - what now?
That is a mandatory cancellation under s 501(3A). You have 28 days from notification to request revocation, and the request must address the current ministerial direction - community protection, the best interests of any children, ties to Australia and rehabilitation. The deadline is strict, so get advice immediately. See our cancellations page.
Can I appeal a character refusal or cancellation?
Often, yes. Many character decisions can be reviewed on their merits by the ART, and where a decision involved a legal error, by judicial review in the Federal Courts. Time limits in character matters are among the shortest in the system, so act the day you receive the decision.
Does the 2026 High Court decision affect me?
In EGH19 v Commonwealth [2026] HCA 7 the High Court struck down curfew and electronic-monitoring conditions on Bridging R visas as punitive and beyond the regulation-making power. If you hold a BVR with those conditions they are no longer enforceable, and condition-validity arguments are now a live consideration in character matters generally. We can review how it applies to your situation.
A character concern? Respond properly
Bring your notice or decision to a consultation, and we will confirm the deadline, the forum and the strongest available response - frankly and in plain language.