This article was written by Partners, Corina Chen and Juanita Maiden
Last month, a Dutch beach volleyballer was denied entry to Australia to compete in the Beach Volleyball World Championships. The athlete was denied a visa on the basis that he had previously been convicted of, and had served prison time, for three counts of child rape. He served 12 months of his sentence and resumed his volleyball career in 2018. Since that time, he has represented the Netherlands in various international tournaments and at the Paris Olympics. The Department of Home Affairs confirmed that the visa was not granted due to concerns about his character.
With more and more international athletes competing in Australian professional sporting leagues, and an influx of overseas athletes expected to compete on Australian shores in major events leading up to the 2032 Olympics, clarity around the different types of sporting visas and the conditions of entry will become increasingly relevant.
Ahead of most international sporting competitions, the Australian Government will officially endorse the event to allow athletes and associated attendees to apply for the Temporary Activity Visa (Subclass 408) in the ‘Australian Government Endorsed Events’ stream. The 408 visa would then allow the visa holder to stay in Australia for the duration of, and participate in, the relevant event.
One of the criteria of the 408 visa is that visa applicants must meet the ‘character requirements’.
In fact, the character requirements apply to all Australian visas and are designed to ensure that anyone entering or remaining in Australia does not pose a risk to the community.
The Department of Home Affairs considers a wide range of factors, including a visa applicant’s criminal history in Australia and overseas, any past convictions or charges (including any spent convictions which may be removed from official records), good behaviour bonds, time spent in prison, any criminal associations, past visa rejections and cancellations, and even patterns of behaviour that may indicate a risk of future offending.
A visa applicant may not meet the character requirements if they fail to pass the character test, defined as including:
- A person with a ‘substantial criminal record’, i.e. a person who has been sentenced to 12 months or more of imprisonment (including suspended sentences and whether prison time was actually served).
- A person who has been convicted of, had a charge proven or have been found guilty of a sexually-based crime involving a child (person under 18 years).
There are other factors to the character test, but these are the most common reasons a person may be automatically deemed to fail the character test. Whilst this failure does not automatically ‘block’ a visa, it means the Minister (or a delegate) must consider the character factors and weigh the risks to the Australian community, as in the case of the Dutch volleyball player.
Early advice is essential to understand how the character requirements may apply to each unique situation.
If you or your sporting organisation require advice on the visa requirements, the Mullins Migration team can provide you with their expert advice.