Now lawMigration & Citizenship Introduced in the House of Representatives, 08 Oct 2025

Border face photos now have clear legal backing

This law updates what counts as a face photo for Home Affairs, the department that runs borders and visas. It also says photos taken in the past are fine. And it lets the Minister make people like Olympians citizens, even if they spend long stretches overseas.

Official name: Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Travellers using SmartGates: Photos taken of you at the border are clearly allowed, even if the camera catches more than your face.
• People applying for visas or citizenship: The face photo rules for your form now match the cameras used today.
• Top athletes and others doing work that helps Australia: Time spent training or working overseas is less likely to block your citizenship.
• People who already became citizens this way: The Minister can no longer take your citizenship away just because you spent under 180 days here in your first two years.

Face photos without the shoulders

The Department of Home Affairs runs Australia's borders, visas and citizenship. It includes the Australian Border Force, which checks people coming and going.

The department takes photos of people's faces to check who they are. A face is a body feature a computer can match. The law calls these personal identifiers.

Two laws set the rules. One is the Migration Act 1958, the main law on visas. The other is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, the main law on becoming a citizen. Both said a face photo shows a person's face and shoulders.

The government says today's face matching does not need the shoulders. Some photos only show the face and neck. So some photos might not have been covered by the law. This law fixes the wording. It also says past photos count.

The law also makes a separate change to citizenship rules. It is for people doing things that help Australia. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke brought the bill.

New rules for face photos

The words "and shoulders" are taken out of both laws. A face now means the face. It can include all or part of the neck and shoulders.

Say a photo shows more of your body. The department can cut it down to your face. You are treated as having given the face photo you were asked for.

The same goes for an approved system, such as a SmartGate at the airport. If you stand in front of it and it takes your photo, you have met the rule.

Say you fly home from Bali and use a SmartGate. The camera snaps your head and upper body. The law now clearly lets the department use the face part of that picture.

Past photos confirmed

The law says face photos taken before it started are valid. This includes photos showing only the face and neck.

Anything the department did with those photos is also treated as valid. The government's notes on the bill say no one will be punished or be worse off because of this.

Citizenship for travelling athletes

Most people must live in Australia for four years before they can apply to be a citizen. A special rule exists for people doing things that help Australia. It covers some Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games athletes. The Commonwealth Games is a sports event for countries once ruled by Britain. It also covers some government jobs that need a security check.

Under that special rule, people had to be in Australia for at least 180 days in the two years before they applied. The Minister had a personal power to relax some rules. That rule was not one of them.

This law lets the Minister drop the 180-day rule too. The Minister can still weigh up time spent here and what is best for the nation.

People used to make two promises. They would keep Australia as their home for two years after becoming a citizen. They would also spend at least 180 days here in that time. The second promise is gone.

They must still promise that Australia is their lasting home. The Minister can still take away citizenship if they break that promise. The Minister can no longer do so just because they spent under 180 days here.

Say a swimmer has lived in Australia for years. She trains in the United States for much of the year. She could now be made a citizen in time to swim for Australia.

The changes apply to forms still waiting for a decision. The rule about losing citizenship also applies to people who became citizens this way in the past.

Start date

The bill went into the House of Representatives on 8 October 2025. That is the lower house of Parliament, where the government sits. The House passed it on 30 October 2025. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 27 November 2025.

The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signed it into law on 1 December 2025. It became Act No. 70 of 2025.

The citizenship changes started the next day. The face photo changes start on a day the government picks. If no day is set, they start six months after the law was signed.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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