This page is about applying for a protection visa on the basis of your gender identity. You have the right to seek asylum in Australia if you fear harm in your home country based on your gender identity, your gender presentation, or your transgender (trans) status.
The criteria for a Protection visa
If you arrived in Australia by plane on a valid visa and were immigration cleared, you have the right to apply for a permanent protection visa onshore.
The requirements and processes for applying for a protection visa are the same across all of Australia.
The criteria for this protection visa are set out in the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and includes that you must have a well-founded fear of persecution¹ for reasons such as your ‘membership of a particular social group’.² This ‘particular social group’ can include being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, being gender-diverse, gender non-conforming, or trans.
The form of persecution that you fear in your home country could include:
- criminalisation of gender non-conforming expression
- criminalisation of same-sex sexual activities
- threats to your life
- physical and verbal abuse
- an inability to access essential health services, including gender affirming health care
- violence and harassment in the form of hate crimes from members of the community or your family members
- withholding of protection by the authorities
- systemic deprivation or discrimination in employment, health or education
- forced marriage to a gender you are not attracted to
- ‘honour’ killing by family member
It’s not required, however, that being trans be “illegal” in your home country. A decision maker just needs to be satisfied that you couldn’t live safely as yourself anywhere in your home country.
There must be nowhere in the country you could go to be safe,³ and the police and authorities must not be able to effectively protect you from the harm you fear.⁴ This could include a situation where you are subject to persecution by your own family members, and the state is unable or unwilling to protect you from the harm you fear.
The harm you fear could be from the community, the authorities, or your family members, or a combination of all three.
How to apply for a Protection visa
Currently the process to make a protection visa application is via the Department of Home Affair’s website platform ImmiAccount.
| Go to: https://online.immi.gov.au/lusc/login and enter your username and password. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one. |
- Go to “My applications”
- Select “New application”
- Then select “Protection, Resolution of Status, Temporary Protection or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (866, 851, 785, 790).
For the critical data section, you’ll need to copy the details exactly from your passport (including in your deadname if necessary). The Department of Home Affairs will continue to refer to you by this name on official documentation until you have changed your name with the relevant state authority in Australia if you have not yet changed it on your passport.
You can save the application until you are happy with it and ready to submit. We recommend you get legal help with your application from one of the free providers funded to help you lodge your application.
The cost to apply for this visa is $45 currently.
If you lodge the application while you are still on a substantive visa (meaning any visa that is not a bridging visa), then you will be entitled to work rights and access to Medicare while you wait for the application to be considered.
When you lodge the application online, it is recommended that you provide a copy of your passport and detailed information about your claims for protection.
Who can help with the application
We recommend you get legal help with your application. The free providers of legal representation around Australia are listed on the Department’s websites and are set out below:
| State or Territory | Name | Website |
| Australian Capital Territory | Legal Aid ACT | www.legalaidact.org.au |
| New South Wales | Refugee Advice and Casework Service | www.racs.org.au |
| Northern Territory | Refugee Legal | www.refugeelegal.org.au |
| Queensland | Refugee and Immigration Legal Service | www.rails.org.au |
| South Australia | Legal Services Commission of SA | www.lsc.sa.gov.au |
| Tasmania | Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service | www.trls.org.au |
| Victoria | Refugee Legal | www.refugeelegal.org.au |
| Western Australia | Circle Green Community Legal | www.circlegreen.org.au |
The process after an application is lodged
After an application is lodged, the Department will then acknowledge the application and usually email you with the acknowledgment letter, the grant of your bridging visa, and a request that you undertake ‘biometrics’.
Biometrics is where you go and have your fingerprints and photo taken at a set time and date. It is important that you attend this appointment because if you don’t, the application will become invalid, and you’ll need to start again.
After biometrics are done, then there is usually a period where you are waiting for the Department to process your application. This could be a matter of months, or years. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to speed this process up so please take this into consideration when applying.
Once the Department allocates your application to be processed, they may ask you for more information about your application and your protection claims. They can do this by inviting you to attend an interview, or by putting this request in writing.
The Department are not required to ask you for more information in writing or invite you to attend an interview. They can refuse your application without interview or without any further contact with you, so it’s important to upload all evidence in support of your case as soon as you can.
What evidence do the Department want?
The Department are likely going to ask you for evidence or supporting documents to verify your application and your claims for protection.
‘Evidence’ can include your story – your history and what happened to you, written into a statement. A lawyer will be able to help you set this out in the way the Department will expect – addressing the relevant criteria. This normally includes setting out your family history, information about your sexuality and gender, any harm you already experienced in your home country based on your sexuality or gender expression, and an update on how you have been living in Australia – whether you have engaged with any LGBTQ+ community activities in Australia, and your current relationship status or dating experiences.
You’re not required to have any ‘evidence’ beyond your own story, as we know this can be difficult to provide. But it can help to provide evidence if you have it. If your story includes trying to get help from the police, the Department might ask if you have a copy of a police report about that. If your story includes going to hospital, they might ask if you have the hospital records.
| Other evidence that might be appropriate to provide about your gender could include: – any identity documents in your affirmed gender. – photos of you living as your affirmed gender, or on your gender affirming journey that you’re comfortable to provide. – statements by friends or colleagues who can confirm that they know you as your affirmed gender. – a letter from your counsellor, psychologist or doctor about the impact of the harm you fear on your mental health. – scripts for any medication you may be taking as part of gender affirming healthcare. – screenshots of your profile on social media or dating apps. |
There is no requirement that you have any of these, or that you have engaged in any particular step in terms of gender affirmation. However, it is helpful to provide as much as you can to the Department.
Any documents you provide to the Department are confidential – they aren’t shared with any other individuals or organisations. Having said this, they should be documents you are comfortable sharing. You’re not required to provide any chats or photos that you’re uncomfortable with other people seeing.
How do the Department make a decision about my case?
Typically, the Department will look at whether they believe you or whether they find you ‘credible’, and whether the current country information supports what you say. To make this decision, they are required to consider reports by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Australian decision makers place weight on how directly you answer their questions, and whether you have provided all available evidence in support of your case to them. For this reason, it’s a good idea to speak with a lawyer to talk about your specific situation and how to best prepare your case.
If the Department are satisfied that your gender identity is as you have claimed it to be, and that you would face a risk of serious or significant harm in your home country because of your gender identity, they will then ask you to complete a health, character and identity check.
| – The health check is provided by BUPA and can cost over $500. – The identity check involves sending a photograph of every page of your passport/s. – The character check involves the Department confirming whether you have any criminal convictions in Australia or any other country. |
If the Department is satisfied that you are owed protection in Australia as you would face serious or significant harm in your home country due to your gender identity, and you complete the health, character and identity checks, the Department may grant you a protection visa. This is a permanent visa, allowing you to stay in Australia indefinitely as a permanent resident.
References & Links
¹ Section 5H, Migration Act 1958
² Section 5J, Migration Act 1958
³ Section 5J(1)(c), Migration Act 1958
⁴ Section 5J(2) and 5LA, Migration Act 1958
Protection visas are for asylum seekers – The Department of Home Affairs
Country Information Reports – The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
Specialist Services for Migrants and Refugees – The Transcultural Mental Health Centre (TMHC)
Department of Home Affairs – The primary authority for all visa, citizenship, and migration status information
The Immigration Advice and Rights Centre (IARC) – Specialist legal centre providing free advice on family visas, protection visas, and citizenship
NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) – Trauma-specialised counselling for refugees
Refugee Advice & Casework Service (RACS) – Providing trauma-informed legal support and advocacy for refugees and asylum seekers
Refugee Council of Australia – Directory of services for refugees and asylum seekers
Legal Aid NSW (Immigration Service) – Free legal information and appointments for immigration matters.
Settlement Services International (SSI) – National organisation helping refugees and migrants settle into the Australian community
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) – Offering food banks, healthcare, legal aid and employment support for refugees and asylum seekers.
