Little-known passport rule affecting lost and stolen passports

Aussie travellers who lose two or more passports in a five-year period could risk losing the important document entirely, under a little-known law.

Australians who lose two or more passports within a five-year period will have a considerably shorter validity term, or potentially risk losing the important document altogether, in a little known rule that’s been in place for nearly two decades.

If you’ve lost your passport, or had it stolen twice in five years, your next passport will only be valid for a five-year term, not 10 years, however you’ll still have to pay the standard fee, which from January 1 is $412.

If your passport is lost or stolen three times in a five-year period, your next passport will either only be valid for a maximum of two years, or your application could be denied completely.

The little-known passport rule was bought in 2004 after 32,000 documents were lost in the 2002-03 financial year. Picture: NewsWire/ Nicholas Eagar

Cabinet records from 2004, released by the National Archives of Australia on January 1, detailed the reasoning for the tough new penalties, with foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer stating laws needed to be strengthened so Australians recognised the “importance of protecting their passports”.

“More than 32,000 Australian passports were lost or stolen during last financial year (2002-03). This represents a significant risk in terms of potential misuse by criminals,” he wrote.

The rule, passed in 2005, was introduced alongside a swath of reforms to the then 65-year-old Passports Act, which also legislated that all Australians were “entitled” to a passport.

It also gave the foreign minister powers to cancel or deny applications if they are advised by an “appropriate authority” that there is a real risk an Australian will engage in “drug-related offences, people smuggling, terrorist acts, child abduction, and other listed serious crimes.

Punishments for identity fraud were also increased to 1000 penalty units, or a maximum fine of $110,000 or 10 years imprisonment.

Then foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer (left) with former People’s Republic of China president Hu Jintao. Picture: Provided by the National Archives of Australia

While Aussie passports are among the world’s most powerful, and were ranked fifth in the 2024 Henley Passport Index with visa-free access to 189 countries, they are also the world’s most expensive.

As noted by Cabinet Historian David Lee, the reforms also contributed to the upward cost trajectory of Australian passports.

“Downer also received authority to introduce a new Fees Bill given the ‘uncertainty concerning the technical legal question of whether the fees were a tax or simply reasonable cost recovery’,” he wrote in his essay accompanying the release of the 2004 documents.

“Consequently, the Australian Passports (Application Fees) Act 2005 imposed passport fees as taxes; this would contribute to Australian passports becoming some of the costliest in the world.”

Labor has also been criticised for hiking the application cost of a 10-year passport to $398 as of July 1 last year, increasing fees by 15 per cent.

This was on top of the standard January 1 inflation indexations which occur every year.

From January 1, 2025, the cost of a 10-year Australian passport will be $412.

In comparison, the cost of a 10-year Singapore document, which gives visa-free access to 194 countries costs just $70.69.