I am a secondary applicant and the primary applicant abused me — can I stay in 2026?

Updated 2026-10-11 · General information, not migration advice · Run by the Arrivau team

Yes — but the claim only runs if you are the primary applicant's former partner or spouse. The Australian Department of Home Affairs states on its official page Domestic and family violence and your visa — Family Violence Provisions (as at the October 2026 version of the page) that a secondary applicant may be able to claim the family violence provisions where the perpetrator was the primary applicant. The same page adds the condition that decides most cases: to make a claim as a secondary applicant on a visa application, you must be the former partner or spouse of the primary applicant. Everything below is general information about how these rules are published, not an assessment of your own situation and not a prediction of any outcome.

What does it mean to be a secondary applicant in this claim?

A secondary applicant is a person included on someone else's visa application — the person whose skills, nomination, business or family connection the application rests on is the primary applicant. Being listed on the application as a partner does not by itself start a claim. The rules attach the claim to who the perpetrator was, and to what you were to that person.

Two conditions sit at the front of the Department's Family violence provisions – Secondary applicants page: you are a secondary applicant, and the perpetrator is the primary applicant. A third condition concerns location: when the visa application was made, you must have either been in Australia or entered Australia afterwards.

The skilled and business visas listed on the provisions page include subclasses 132, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192, 858, 887 and 888. The family visas listed include subclasses 103, 115, 116, 143, 804, 835, 836 and 864.

Assume an applicant was included as the partner on a Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) application made onshore, and the primary applicant became violent during the relationship. That is the situation the secondary applicant route is written for. Assume instead that the applicant's own Partner visa application was lodged, with the other person as sponsor — that runs through a different page.

What if you are the person who applied for the Partner visa?

The two routes are not interchangeable, and picking the wrong one wastes time you may not have. If you hold or have applied for a Temporary Partner (subclass 820) visa, hold or have applied for (and entered Australia since applying) a Provisional Partner (subclass 309) visa, or hold or previously held a Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa, the Department's Family violence provisions – Partner visa applicants page applies, and the perpetrator must be the former sponsor of the visa application. For the subclass 300 visa you must be in Australia, and if that visa has ceased you must not hold a substantive visa and must have applied for a Partner (subclasses 820 and 801) visa.

That page also handles the notification differently. The 'Notification of Relationship Cessation' form in the 'Update Details' tab asks when the relationship ceased, whether you have experienced family violence, and whether you have children with your former sponsor. Both the family violence and children options need to be selected if both apply, and the application is only automatically removed from all ImmiAccounts if the family violence option is chosen. After the form is submitted, the Partner visa application and the sponsorship application are automatically removed from every ImmiAccount, including your former sponsor's or their migration agent's.

Must the violence have happened while you were still together?

Yes, in part. Both the general provisions page and the secondary applicant page require that at least part of the family violence occurred while you were in a relationship with the primary applicant. The general page also lists that the perpetrator was your former partner or spouse and that you are no longer in a relationship with that person.

What this means in practice is that violence that began before separation, or continued into it, is considered; the rules do not require the whole pattern to fall inside the relationship window.

How do you tell the Department the relationship has ended?

The Department's secondary applicant page sets out four actions in ImmiAccount, in this order.

Find the reference number for your application, which appears in the correspondence the Department sent you.
Log into your ImmiAccount.
Click 'New application'.
Complete the 'Notification of family violence – Secondary applicants' form.

If you use an existing ImmiAccount, make sure only you have access to it. If you do not have one, create a new ImmiAccount using an email address your former partner cannot access; the Department points to the eSafety Commissioner's online safety checklist on this point. For people who cannot use ImmiAccount, the Department publishes a separate 'Notification of family violence - Secondary applicants form'.

Which evidence gets looked at first?

The relationship comes first, before the violence. The Department says it must be satisfied that you were in a genuine and ongoing relationship with the primary applicant of the permanent visa application before the relationship ended. A request for information may follow, asking for relationship evidence.

Only once the relationship has been assessed as genuine does the family violence assessment begin. The Department acknowledges that gathering this material can be difficult and that delays outside your control happen, and states that more time to submit documents can be given where it is needed.

What counts as evidence of family violence?

Evidence must show two things: that at least part of the family violence happened while you were in a relationship with your former partner or spouse, and that this person was the alleged perpetrator. All evidence must be in writing, in English, and in the format and level of detail requested.

You can give judicial evidence or non-judicial evidence. Judicial evidence comes from a court of law, and one document is enough — an injunction under the Family Law Act 1975, an order made under a state or territory law, a record of conviction for a family violence offence against you or your dependant(s), or a recorded finding of guilt for such offences. In some situations an interim order meets the threshold; if it does not, you can submit a copy while waiting for a final outcome, and you must supply the final order if one is made.

Non-judicial evidence is either a joint undertaking made before the court, or a minimum of two pieces of evidence plus a completed Commonwealth statutory declaration — Form 1410i, Completing a statutory declaration for a family violence claim, explains how. Only one document per category is allowed; a hospital report from a nurse and a statutory declaration from a medical practitioner, for example, both sit in the medical category. Additional evidence can still be submitted once the minimum is met, and the decision maker may weigh it as part of the whole assessment.

The recognised categories are medical, police, child welfare officer, family violence support service provider, social worker, psychologist, family consultant and family relationship counsellor, and education professional. Each document must be made by someone acting in a professional capacity. Most categories must identify the alleged victim, identify the perpetrator or give enough information for that identity to be reasonably inferred, and either detail the incidents or state a professional opinion on whether the claims are consistent with the person having been subjected to family violence.

What happens after you lodge the claim?

The Department determines whether the violence, or part of it, occurred while you were in a relationship with the primary applicant, and whether the primary applicant was the alleged perpetrator. More information may be requested along the way. If the claim is accepted, further material can still be asked for, including a health exam or character documents such as an Australian or overseas police certificate.

If the Department is not satisfied, the claim is referred to an independent expert, and you will be told about the referral. The expert contacts you to arrange an interview and gives an opinion on whether they think you experienced family violence. The Department must accept that opinion. Where the expert determines that family violence did not occur, you are given the opportunity to comment; where the expert determines that it did, the Department may again ask for a health exam or character documents. The page notes that this process may take some time.

What if the person who hurt you was not the primary applicant?

Then the secondary applicant route, as published, does not cover it — it is built on the perpetrator being the primary applicant. There is one explicit exclusion worth knowing: for the family visa subclasses listed, the family violence provisions do not apply to violence perpetrated by an Australian sponsor.

That is not the end of the picture. The Department states on the provisions page that help is still available, and that you have a right to a safe environment in Australia regardless of your visa status.

What about children included in the application?

A dependent child has a separate route, and it runs through the Partner visa side. The provisions page says a person may be eligible for a permanent visa if they are the dependant of a Partner visa-holding parent who applied for the family violence provisions, and they have applied for a Dependent Child (subclass 445) visa.

What support exists while the claim is being assessed?

The Department's Where to get help page lists national support services and state and territory services covering counselling, housing, finances, food, medical needs and legal matters. Most helplines are free from a landline, payphone and most mobile phones, but the number will still appear on your phone bill, so anyone who can see the bill can see that the call was made. The page recommends using private browsing mode where possible and clearing browsing history otherwise. The Department's information for Partner visa sponsors page states that in an emergency or life-threatening situation you should call the police on 000.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a secondary applicant stay in Australia permanently after family violence?

The provisions page says you may be able to stay in Australia on a permanent visa if you have applied for or hold an eligible visa, you experienced family violence, the perpetrator was your former partner or spouse, part of the violence occurred during the relationship, and you are no longer in that relationship. For a secondary applicant, the perpetrator must be the primary applicant and you must be that person's former partner or spouse.

Do I have to have been married to the primary applicant?

No. The wording used throughout is "former partner or spouse", and the relationship test is whether the Department is satisfied the relationship was genuine and ongoing before it ended. Marriage is one way to evidence that, not the only way.

What if the application was made while I was overseas and I never came to Australia?

The secondary applicant route requires that, when the visa application was made, you were either in Australia or entered Australia afterwards. If neither is true, this route as published does not fit, and the Department's general statement that help is available regardless of visa status still stands.

Do I need a court order to prove the violence?

Not necessarily. One judicial document satisfies the requirement, but you can instead give a joint undertaking made before the court, or at least two pieces of non-judicial evidence together with a Commonwealth statutory declaration. An interim order can also meet the threshold in some situations, and a copy can be submitted while a final outcome is pending.

How many documents can I submit in one category?

One. A hospital report and a statutory declaration from a medical practitioner cannot both be counted, because both are medical evidence. Material beyond the minimum can still be submitted and considered as part of the whole assessment.

Will the primary applicant see my claim?

On the secondary applicant page, the Department's guidance concerns your own access to ImmiAccount: use an account only you can reach, or create a new one with an email address your former partner cannot access. Automatic removal of the application from all ImmiAccounts is described on the Partner visa applicant page, not the secondary applicant page.

What happens if the independent expert decides against me?

The Department must accept the independent expert's opinion, but before a decision is made you are given the opportunity to comment on it. The referral itself will be communicated to you, and the expert will contact you to arrange an interview first.