Do I Need Health Exams and Police Checks for a 116 Carer Visa in 2026?
Yes — everyone included in a Carer visa (Subclass 116) application has to meet Australia's health requirement, and applicants aged 16 and over have to meet the character requirement. But neither rule means you should book anything on your own initiative: the Department of Home Affairs tells you if you need health examinations after you apply, and it tells you plainly not to arrange police certificates until it asks. That distinction comes from the Department of Home Affairs official page for Carer visa (Subclass 116), as of the July 2026 version of that page.
What the health requirement actually covers
The health requirement applies to you and to any family members who apply for the visa with you. It can also reach further than that: family members who are not coming to Australia might still have to meet it.
So "health" on this visa is a condition everyone in the application family has to satisfy, not a form you personally fill in once. Under the Migration Regulations 1994, this sits in Public Interest Criterion 4005, and the same criterion applies to accompanying family members; details such as which criteria are in force at a given time are best confirmed against the official Home Affairs page rather than a summary of the regulations.
When do you actually book a health examination?
After you apply, not before. The Department's post-lodgement guidance is short on this point: "We will let you know if you need health examinations." Until that message arrives, there is nothing for you to book and nothing to guess about.
This matters because the 116 is a paper application lodged from outside Australia, and applications in this stream run long. An examination you commissioned early, on your own reading of the rules, is an examination the Department did not ask for and may not be able to use.
The other medical certificate: the one for your relative in Australia
This is where most applicants get confused, because the 116 involves two quite different pieces of medical evidence.
The first is your own health requirement, described above — decided later, and triggered by a request from the Department.
The second is a medical certificate about the person you are coming to care for. Your relative, or the family member who lives with them, must be assessed by Bupa Medical Visa Services, and the certificate has to state that the person has a medical condition and requires a certain amount of care because of it. You cannot even lodge without evidence that this process has at least begun: if the assessment has started but is not finished, you send a letter from Bupa Medical Visa Services confirming that.
Timing here runs in the opposite direction from your own health exam. If you did not include the Bupa certificate with your application, you should provide it within three months of applying, and if the Department does not have it by the time it decides the application, the visa will not be granted. You also need written evidence that your Australian relative or their family member does not have reasonable access to care options in Australia.
One medical certificate is about you and waits for a request. The other is about your relative and is what makes the application acceptable in the first place.
Who has to meet the character requirement?
You do, and so does every family member aged 16 or over who applies for the visa with you. The Department may also ask other family members to meet it, even where the general rule would not reach them.
The 16-year threshold is the practical marker people ask about: a child under 16 included in the application is not caught by the character requirement, while a 17-year-old is. In regulatory terms the character tests sit in Public Interest Criteria 4001 to 4004.
So when do police certificates come in?
Only when the Department asks. The document checklist for this visa says it directly: do not arrange for police certificates until we ask you to.
The reason is administrative rather than mysterious. A police certificate is a snapshot of a record on the day it is issued; one obtained months before a caseworker looks at it may no longer reflect the current record, and the Department will simply ask again. Waiting for the request also means you get the request in the form that applies to your case, including which countries it wants certificates from.
Note the contrast with health, where the Department's message tells you whether examinations are needed at all. For character documents, the instruction is not "wait to see if you need them" — it is "wait to be told to get them."
What if a family member is not migrating with me?
Health and character treat non-migrating family differently.
- Health: family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet the health requirement. Non-migration does not automatically remove them from scope.
- Character: the baseline rule covers you and family members aged 16 and over who apply with you; the Department might also ask that other family members meet it.
The safe assumption for anyone listed in the application is that they can be brought into either check. What you should not assume is that you can pre-empt it by ordering documents now.
What else is assessed alongside these two?
Health and character sit inside a wider eligibility set that includes having an approved sponsor, having paid back or arranged to pay back any debt owed to the Australian Government — including by family members who do not apply with you — your immigration history, and, if you are 18 or over, signing the Australian values statement. None of those change the two rules above; they just explain why a file can be complete on health and character and still stop elsewhere.
This article is general information about how the rules are structured, not advice about your own medical or criminal history, and it does not predict any outcome; for anything that turns on your personal circumstances, rely on the official requirements as currently published or on a qualified professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to book a health examination before I lodge the 116 application?
No. The Department of Home Affairs tells you after you apply whether you need health examinations. Booking before that request means paying for an examination the Department did not ask for and may not be able to use.
Is the Bupa medical certificate the same as my own health exam?
No. The Bupa Medical Visa Services certificate is about your relative in Australia and their need for care, and the application is not accepted unless that assessment process has at least begun. Your own health examinations relate to the health requirement you personally have to meet, which the Department raises later if needed.
Should I get police certificates early so they are ready?
No — the Department's instruction for this visa is not to arrange police certificates until it asks you to. A certificate issued long before a caseworker reviews it may no longer reflect the current record, which is the practical reason for the wait.
At what age does a child in the application need to meet the character requirement?
Family members aged 16 and over who apply with you must meet the character requirement, so a child at or above that age is in scope and a younger one is not by default. The Department can still ask other family members to meet it.
Do family members who are staying behind need health checks?
They might. The official eligibility criteria say family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet the health requirement, so being listed without migrating does not settle the question.
Will anyone tell me if something is missing?
The Department will contact you if you need to provide anything further, though it does not give progress updates within normal processing times. If you did not include all necessary documents, you are expected to provide them as soon as you can.