Fill Out Passport Office Form B9 Online
Child without full consent or Australian court order permitting issue of a travel document
Australian Passport Office
Request an Australian travel document for a child when full parental consent or a permitting court order cannot be obtained.
Reviewed July 2026
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Form B9, Child without full consent or Australian court order permitting issue of a travel document, is a supporting form published by the Australian Passport Office. It is used when applying for a passport for a child, meaning a person under 18 who has never married, where consent has not been obtained from every person with parental responsibility and no Australian court order permits the travel document to be issued. A separate B9 is required for each person with parental responsibility who has not consented. Like all Australian passport supporting forms, B9 accompanies the application; the application itself is completed online on the Passport Office website, printed, and lodged in person.
You can complete Form B9 in the Universal PDF editor, typing the child's details, the details of the non-consenting parent, the contact attempts you have made and the special circumstances you are claiming, then print the PDF for lodgement. Typing helps here more than on most forms, because B9 asks for detailed narrative answers that assessors need to be able to read.
What is Form B9 used for
Under Australian passport legislation, each person with parental responsibility for a child must consent to an Australian passport being issued, unless an Australian court order permits the child to have a passport, travel internationally, or live or spend time with a person outside Australia. Where full consent cannot be obtained, Form B9 puts the situation before the Passport Office so the application can be assessed against the provisions of the Australian Passports Act 2005 and the special circumstances set out in the Australian Passports Determination 2015.
The Passport Office is direct about expectations: unless it is not possible, inappropriate or unsafe, you should attempt to obtain consent from each person with parental responsibility before relying on this form. There is no guarantee an application claiming special circumstances will be approved, the application fee is generally not refunded if a passport is refused, and no processing time frame can be promised because specialised assessment may be required. Travel should not be booked until the decision is known.
Who completes Form B9
The lodging parent, that is the person applying for the child's passport, completes the form. It records their details, the child's details including any proposed travel, the marital history of the child's parents, and extensive information about the non-consenting person: their identity, residency status, last known contact details, and the relationship and contact between them and the child.
The form sits alongside serious legal context. Taking a child overseas without the consent of everyone with parental responsibility may be an offence under the Family Law Act 1975 or lead to action under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, and the form points readers to the Attorney-General's Department for that information. Anyone in this situation may also want independent legal advice, which the Passport Office cannot provide.
How to fill out Form B9
Answer every section in full. Incomplete answers about contact attempts are a common reason these applications stall.
- Complete the child's details, including who they live with, any proposed travel and any sibling applications.
- Provide your own details as the lodging parent, including your relationship to the child.
- Set out the parents' marital status history, attaching the divorce order if the parents are divorced.
- Identify the other person who may have parental responsibility, including last known contact details, and whether they are deceased, attaching evidence of death if so.
- Detail every attempt to contact that person for consent: phone, email, post, family and friends, and social media, with approximate dates and results, or explain why no attempts were made.
- Describe the relationship and contact between the child and that person, any child support history, and any court orders or pending proceedings, completing the related court order form where required.
- Set out your claim of special circumstances with supporting evidence, using a B11 General declaration form if you run out of space.
Assessment and processing
Applications lodged without full consent are assessed individually against the special circumstances provisions, and may require specialised assessment. The Passport Office cannot give a processing time frame for them and advises against booking travel before a decision.
Where court proceedings that may affect parental responsibility or the child's travel are under way, the form notes there are limits to the special circumstances that can be considered, and suggests it may be better to seek the court's direction on passport issue before lodging the application.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. A separate B9 form is required for each person with parental responsibility who has not consented to the child's passport being issued.
No. The Passport Office states there is no guarantee the application will be approved, and if a passport is refused the application fee is generally not refunded. Do not book travel until you know the decision.
The Passport Office does not give a time frame for child applications lodged without full parental consent, because they may require specialised assessment. Plan on the basis that the decision could take significantly longer than a standard application.
They are defined in the Australian Passports Act 2005 and the Australian Passports Determination 2015, and include situations such as a person with parental responsibility who cannot be contacted. The form asks you to present evidence supporting your claim, and the Passport Office assesses each case individually.
The form warns that where proceedings may affect parental responsibility or the child's right to a travel document, there are limits to the special circumstances that can be considered, and suggests seeking the court's direction on passport issue before lodging.
No. B9 supports the application. The child's passport application itself is completed through the online form on the Passport Office website, printed and lodged in person, generally at a participating Australia Post outlet.
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