Bringing family on a 482 or 494 visa in 2026: who counts as a family member

Who can be included as a family member on a 482 or 494 application in 2026, and when a child aged 23 or over still qualifies.

Published: 14 October 2026

On a Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482, formerly Temporary Skill Shortage) or a Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494), the people who can join you as secondary applicants are fixed by the "member of the family unit" definition in the Migration Regulations 1994: a spouse or de facto partner; a child or step-child of you or of your partner who is not married or in a de facto relationship and is either under 23 or, if 23 or over, dependent on the primary applicant under regulation 1.05A(1)(b); and a dependent child of such a child. Parents are not in that list. The criteria come from Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Part 482 and Part 494) as published on the Federal Register of Legislation, read with the Department of Home Affairs visa pages for subclass 482 and subclass 494.

Who is inside the family unit definition, and who is outside it?

Person	Included as a secondary applicant?	Test that applies
Spouse	Yes	Marriage to the primary applicant
De facto partner	Yes	De facto relationship with the primary applicant
Child or step-child under 23	Yes	Not married and not in a de facto relationship
Child or step-child aged 23 or over	Only if dependent	Dependent on the primary applicant within regulation 1.05A(1)(b)
Child of your spouse or de facto partner	Yes	Same child conditions, counted through the partner
Dependent child of an eligible child	Yes	Must be a dependent child of a child who meets the above
Your parents or parents-in-law	No	Not listed in the definition
Siblings, nieces, nephews, other relatives	No	Not listed in the definition
A married adult child, or one living with a partner	No	Fails the "not married / no partner" condition

The structure is worth noting: the cut-off is 23, not 18, and dependency does the work only above that age. A 20-year-old child does not need to prove financial dependence; a 24-year-old does.

Does a child aged 23 or over still count as a family member?

Yes, but only on the dependency limb. Regulation 1.12(5), as applied through clause 482.312(2), admits a child or step-child who has reached 23 only where they are dependent on the primary applicant within the meaning of regulation 1.05A(1)(b). Dependency runs to the primary applicant, not simply to the household, and it has to be shown with evidence rather than asserted.

Assume an applicant whose 25-year-old child is studying full time and relies on the applicant for housing, living costs and tuition, with no income of their own. That profile points to the dependency limb. Assume the same child working full time, paying their own rent and supporting themselves: the relationship is unchanged, but the dependency limb is not made out, and the child does not meet the definition. This article describes the rule only; it is general information and not advice on any individual's circumstances, so an unusual family situation should be checked against the current official text and, where needed, a registered migration professional's opinion.

Can my parents come with me on a 482 or 494?

Not as secondary applicants. The definition used for both subclasses covers partners, children, step-children and dependent grandchildren; it does not extend upwards to parents or parents-in-law, or sideways to siblings. A parent who wants to be in Australia would need to be assessed against some other visa category's own criteria, and this article does not cover those.

The practical consequence is that a parent cannot be added to the application "as a family member", and their health and character cannot be cleared through your nomination.

What about step-children, a partner's child, and grandchildren?

Three points follow directly from the wording:

A step-child is named alongside a child, so a blended family is covered on the same conditions.
The child can be a child of your spouse or de facto partner, so a partner's child from an earlier relationship can qualify even if the child is not yours biologically.
A dependent child of an eligible child — effectively a grandchild — is included, which is how a three-generation case can arise where the middle generation is itself a dependent child.

Each of them still has to satisfy the separate health, character and documentation requirements below.

What else does a family member have to satisfy, besides the relationship?

The relationship test gets a person into the definition; it does not by itself get them a visa.

On the 482 side, clauses 482.311 to 482.318 require secondary applicants to meet requirements comparable to the primary applicant's: health insurance arrangements under clause 482.214, the health criterion (public interest criterion 4005), and the character criteria — PIC 4001, 4002, 4003, 4003B, 4004, 4007, 4010, 4013, 4014, 4020 and 4021, with the values criterion PIC 4019 applying to applicants aged 18 or over. Clause 482.315 adds a procedural condition: the secondary applicant must be listed in the primary applicant's nomination, or have the sponsor's written consent.

On the 494 side, clause 494.311 requires the secondary applicant to be a member of the family unit, and clause 494.312(1) applies the character criteria. The health criterion depends on the stream: PIC 4007 where the primary applicant is in the Employer Sponsored stream (494.312(4)) and PIC 4005 where the primary applicant is in the Labour Agreement stream (494.312(5)). Clause 494.314 mirrors the 482 procedural condition — the family member must be named in the nomination or have the nominating employer's written consent — and clauses 494.315 and 494.316 deal with adverse information and with conduct relating to the payment for visa sponsorship. The Home Affairs PAM3 material for subclass 494 also records the health criteria as applying to accompanying family members whether or not they lodge their own application, which matters where a family splits an application.

What evidence is normally needed for the relationship and the dependency?

The document checklists for both subclasses point to identity and relationship records, plus dependency material where the child is 23 or over:

A valid passport and identity documents for each family member.
A marriage certificate, or evidence of a de facto relationship, for a partner.
Birth certificates or equivalent records establishing the parent-child link, including for a step-child or a partner's child.
Dependency evidence under regulation 1.05A(1)(b) for any child aged 23 or over.
Health insurance evidence for the 482 requirement in clause 482.214.
Health examinations and police certificates as part of the health and character criteria, including police certificates from countries where a person has lived for more than 12 months.

How to work through the test in order

List every person you want to bring. Match each one against the four categories in the definition. Mark anyone who has turned 23, and assess dependency for them separately. Confirm the nomination names them, or obtain the sponsor's written consent. Arrange health insurance, health examinations and police certificates for each of them. Lodge the relationship and dependency evidence with the application rather than waiting to be asked.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my 24-year-old child still a family member on a 482 or 494?

Only if they are dependent on you, the primary applicant, within regulation 1.05A(1)(b). A child under 23 qualifies without proving dependency; from 23 onwards dependency is a separate and additional requirement, and it must be supported by evidence.

Can my parents be included as secondary applicants?

No. The member of the family unit definition covers partners, children, step-children and dependent grandchildren, and does not list parents or parents-in-law. A parent would need to qualify under another visa category in their own right.

Do step-children and my partner's children count?

Yes. The definition names a child or step-child of the primary applicant or of their spouse or de facto partner, so a partner's child from an earlier relationship can be included if the child is not married or in a de facto relationship and is under 23, or 23 or over and dependent on the primary applicant.

Does a family member have to be named in the employer's nomination?

They must either be listed in the primary applicant's nomination or have the sponsor's written consent — clause 482.315 for the 482, and clause 494.314 for the 494. This is a procedural requirement on top of the relationship test, and it is recorded among the common refusal grounds.

Do accompanying family members need their own health insurance, health checks and police certificates?

Yes. Both subclasses extend health and character screening to secondary applicants, and the 482 additionally requires adequate health insurance arrangements under clause 482.214. The specific health criterion differs on the 494 by stream: PIC 4007 in the Employer Sponsored stream and PIC 4005 in the Labour Agreement stream.

Is the family member test the same for 482 and 494?

The relationship test is the same concept — member of the family unit, set out for the 482 by reference to regulation 1.12(5) — and the procedural requirement of nomination listing or written consent is equivalent. The main divergence is the health criterion, which on the 494 depends on whether the primary applicant is in the Employer Sponsored or Labour Agreement stream.