School enrolment for a child on a partner visa is decided by the education department of your state or territory, not by the Department of Home Affairs. That single division explains most of the confusion families run into: Home Affairs can tell you what visa a child holds, and nothing at all about whether that child pays school fees, while the education department can answer the fee question but will ask you to prove the visa first.
Who runs school enrolment?
Each state and territory runs its own school system, sets its own enrolment policy and decides its own fee arrangements. There is no national school enrolment rule for children on temporary visas, and there is no Home Affairs page that answers it, because it is not the Department's decision to make.
Practically, that means three different bodies each hold a piece of your answer:
- The state or territory education department — whether the child can enrol, at which school, and on what fee basis.
- The school itself — the enrolment paperwork, placement, and the start date.
- The Department of Home Affairs — the child's visa, its conditions, and what has to be told to the Department when the family's circumstances change.
Will the family pay school fees?
Ask the education department where you live, in writing, and keep the answer. Fee arrangements for children on temporary visas vary between states and territories, and within a state they can vary by visa subclass, so an answer that is correct for one family is not reliable for another.
Two habits make this straightforward. First, name the child's exact visa subclass in the enquiry — a child on a subclass 820, a child on a Dependent child visa (subclass 445) and a child on a student or visitor visa are not the same case. Second, ask for the answer in writing and keep it with the enrolment papers, because fee arrangements are reviewed and the answer you were given in one year is not a guarantee for the next.
Important
Do not budget on the basis of what another family paid in a different state, a different school sector or a different year. The only reliable answer is the one the relevant education department gives you for your child's visa.
What do schools usually ask for?
Requirements are published by each department, but the list at the front desk is usually some combination of the following.
| What is asked for | Usual document | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of the child's age and identity | Birth certificate or passport | Registry of births, deaths and marriages, or a foreign authority |
| Immunisation history | Immunisation history statement | Services Australia, or a foreign health authority |
| Proof of your residential address | Lease, rates notice, utility account | Landlord, council, utility provider |
| Evidence of the child's visa | VEVO check or grant letter | Department of Home Affairs |
| Previous schooling | Reports or transcripts, translated if needed | The previous school |
Because Australian visas are digital and carry no label in the passport, visa status is shown through VEVO, the Department's online checking service. You can run the check yourself and give the school the result. Documents not in English generally need an accredited translation — see identity documents and translations.
The address documents are worth noticing for a second reason. A lease or utility account in both partners' names, produced for a school enrolment, is also evidence of the nature of the household at the permanent stage. See joint accounts and leases.
The visa side: which children are covered
Whether a child is on your application, or needs a visa of their own, is decided by when they joined the picture.
Children included in the application. Dependent children can be included when the partner visa application is lodged, and family members applying with you must be in Australia when you apply. Each additional applicant attracts a charge. See including children in your application and additional applicant charges.
Children added after the 820 is granted. They cannot be added to the application. The Department is explicit: family members cannot be added after the temporary visa is granted. The pathway instead is a Dependent child visa (subclass 445), after which the child can be included in the subclass 801 application while in Australia, using Form 1002, with the Department notified through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form. This is one of the most consequential rules on the whole partner visa journey, because there is no way to undo a grant that left a child out.
A child born after grant. Tell the Department. The birth of a child is on its list of changes you must notify while you hold the visa.
What the Department must be told
The Department's notification list covers relationship status, the birth of a child, contact details, passport changes and anything else relevant to the application. A child moving to Australia, a change in who the child lives with, or a change of address for the family all sit inside "anything else relevant". Notification is done through ImmiAccount or on the Department's forms, and it is an obligation of holding the visa. See telling Home Affairs about changes.
Where a child is a child of both partners, that fact also has weight in the migration rules beyond the enrolment question — see the child of the relationship provision.
How a school enrolment helps at the permanent stage
The decision maker at the permanent stage must consider the nature of the household and the social context of the relationship, among the four matters. A school enrolment speaks to both, and it does so in a form that is hard to manufacture: forms naming both partners as parents or emergency contacts, correspondence addressed to a shared home, records of who attends interviews and collects the children, and an unbroken address history across years.
Keep the enrolment forms, the school's letters and the year-by-year reports in the same place as your other evidence. They are dated by their nature and generated by a third party, which is exactly the quality the Department looks for. The framework is on nature of the household evidence, and what the permanent stage asks for is listed on 801 stage documents.
An application prepared with an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed where children are involved, because the subclass 445 pathway and the "no adding family after grant" rule are the two points at which a family's options narrow permanently — and both are easier to plan for before lodgement than to fix afterwards.
What to do next
Write to your state or territory education department with the child's visa subclass and ask about enrolment and fees, and run a VEVO check so you can show the school the child's status. If a child is not yet on a visa here, read including children in your application before doing anything else. Then go back to the rest of the list at settling in Australia.
Common questions
Who decides whether my child can enrol in school on a temporary visa?
The education department of the state or territory where you live. School enrolment and school fees are state and territory responsibilities, not matters for the Department of Home Affairs. Each department publishes its own enrolment policy and its own arrangements for children on temporary visas, and it is the department, not the school office, that sets them.
Will we pay fees for a child on a subclass 820 or 445 visa?
It depends on the state or territory and on the visa the child holds, and the arrangements differ between them. Ask the education department where you live, in writing, naming the child's exact visa subclass, and keep the written answer. Do not rely on what applied to a family in another state or in another year.
What documents does a school usually ask for?
Typically proof of the child's age such as a birth certificate or passport, immunisation records, proof of your residential address, and evidence of the child's visa status. Because Australian visas are digital, visa status is shown through VEVO rather than a label in the passport. Each department publishes its own enrolment requirements, so check the list before you go in.
Can I add my child to my partner visa application after the 820 is granted?
No. The Department says family members cannot be added to the application after the temporary visa is granted. A dependent child must first be granted a Dependent child visa (subclass 445), and can then be included in the subclass 801 application while in Australia using Form 1002, with the Department notified through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form.
Do I need to tell the Department if a child is born after my 820 is granted?
Yes. The Department lists the birth of a child among the changes you must tell it about while you hold the visa, along with relationship status, contact details and passport changes. Notify it as soon as you can and provide the birth certificate.
Sources
Keep reading
Changing Your Name After Marriage (and on Your Visa)
Changing your name after marriage in Australia, how it is evidenced, and what the Department must be told — Form 1022, Form 929, and why the passport matters.
Read the guide →
Tax File Number, Bank Accounts and Leases in Joint Names
How to sort a tax file number, bank accounts and a lease after an 820 grant, and why joint paperwork opened early is worth more at the 801 stage.
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Having Your Parents Visit While You're on an 820
How a parent's visit works while you hold an 820: who applies, what an invitation letter covers, conditions to check, and why a visit is not a residence step.
Read the guide →