As most people know, Australia’s partner migration program has always included a family violence provision
In short, if the relationship breaks down during a partner visa application because of family violence, the sponsored applicant can continue applying for permanent residence through this special provision. In other words, even after separation or divorce, the applicant will not lose their status simply because the relationship has ended.
I have written notes on this topic before, covering the definition of family violence in detail and how to invoke the family violence provision to secure a visa — including cases where a secondary applicant on a skilled migration visa experiences family violence while awaiting a decision and may still be granted the visa through this pathway (see Figure 4).
The Department of Home Affairs FOI data we reviewed this time covers each visa subclass from 1 July 2011 to 31 July 2025, showing the volume of family-violence-provision applications and grants (hero image)
The data shows that around 700 to 1,200 people apply under the family violence provision each year. Numbers rose noticeably during the COVID period and have exceeded 1,000 every year since.
Looking at the breakdown
Subclass 820/801 (onshore partner visa) accounts for the vast majority — roughly 900 people in FY2024-25.
Subclass 309/100 (offshore partner visa) numbers are comparatively low.
This is largely because offshore partner visa couples typically live apart in different countries, so the likelihood of family violence is lower. Gathering evidence offshore is also significantly harder than onshore.
It is important to note that invoking the family violence provision does not guarantee the visa will be granted.
As Figure 2 shows, the number of people ultimately granted PR under the family violence provision each year is well below the number of applicants
For example, in FY2024-25, around 1,000 people lodged applications but fewer than 500 were actually granted — a grant rate of only 43%. The grant rate in previous years sat around 70%, and although FY2024-25 covers only one month of data so far, we can already see that case assessments have tightened since last year. A single year’s data is not enough to confirm a long-term trend, so we will continue to monitor how these numbers evolve.
Since October last year, the family violence provision has also applied to certain employer-sponsored visas (Subclass 186) and skilled migration visas (Subclass 189/190/191/887), among others.
However, the data (Figure 3) shows that claim volumes for these visa types are extremely small — almost always single digits — and most are application-only, with even fewer actually granted.
Finally, looking at country of origin, the countries with the highest number of family-violence-provision applicants in recent years include:
India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Thailand, South Korea, and others.
That said, these figures are roughly proportional to the overall number of partner visa applications from each of these countries.
The Department of Home Affairs is genuinely using the family violence provision to protect applicants’ rights, but its assessments are also becoming stricter. For the specific circumstances in which you may qualify under the family violence provision, please refer to my earlier notes. We hope no one ever faces family violence — but if you do, don’t be afraid, and know that you can still reasonably protect your rights.
