What Can a Child Do on the Subclass 101 Visa in 2026: Medicare, Work, Study and Sponsoring Relatives

What the Subclass 101 child visa lets a child do in 2026: Medicare, work, study, travel, citizenship and sponsoring relatives.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

A child granted the Child visa (Subclass 101) holds Australian permanent residence, and on the Department of Home Affairs "Child visa (Subclass 101)" official page, as at the August 2026 version, the entitlements are set out plainly: stay in Australia indefinitely, work and study, enrol in Medicare, sponsor relatives to come to Australia, attend free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program if eligible, and apply for Australian citizenship if eligible. What follows takes each of those entitlements in turn, then deals with the two things families most often misread — the five-year travel facility, and the conditions attached to the grant itself.

What does permanent residence actually change for the child?

The Subclass 101 is a permanent visa. The child can remain in Australia indefinitely, and the visa itself does not expire the way a temporary visa does.

What does expire is the travel facility. The grant includes unlimited travel to and from Australia for five years from the date the visa is granted; after that, returning as a permanent resident requires a different visa. That split — permanent stay, time-limited travel — is the single most useful thing to understand about this visa, because the two dates are governed by different rules.

Can the child work and study in Australia?

Yes, from the date the visa is granted. The department's page states the child can work or study in Australia and does not set out any restriction on hours, field of work, or level of study for this visa; conditions attached to an individual grant should be checked in VEVO, since grants can carry conditions.

If the child works, Australian workplace law applies to them. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes guidance on the workplace rights and entitlements of visa holders and migrant workers, which covers the protections available to someone working in Australia on a visa.

There is one education-related entitlement named specifically: the child can attend free English language classes provided by the Adult Migrant English Program, if eligible. Eligibility for that program is a separate test, and it is the one adult-migrant benefit the department names directly for this visa.

Can the child enrol in Medicare, and do all government payments start at once?

The child can enrol in Medicare, Australia's public healthcare scheme. That entitlement is listed directly on the visa page.

Medicare is not the same as every government payment. The department notes that as a newly arrived resident the child might have to wait to access certain Australian Government payments and benefits, and points to Services Australia for the newly arrived residents' waiting periods. So the practical position is: Medicare enrolment is available under this visa, while other payments can be subject to a waiting period set outside the visa rules.

Can the child sponsor relatives to come to Australia?

Yes. Sponsoring relatives is listed among the things this visa allows, and it is the entitlement with the longest time horizon — a child granted permanent residence in their early teens can, in principle, be in a position to sponsor relatives years later.

The visa page lists the entitlement without setting out a waiting period or a sponsorship test. A relative who is sponsored still has to qualify for whichever visa they apply for, and those criteria sit with that visa, not with the Subclass 101.

How long can the child travel in and out of Australia?

Five years from the date the visa is granted, with no limit on the number of trips, as long as the travel facility remains valid. The end date can be checked in VEVO.

Once that facility ends, the child needs to apply for and be granted a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident. Becoming an Australian citizen is the alternative: a citizen does not require a visa to re-enter Australia.

Two timing details matter here. The five-year travel period runs from the grant date, while permanent residence for citizenship purposes starts on the day the child enters Australia. A child who is granted the visa but does not enter Australia for many months uses up travel time without building residence time.

What does the child have to do after the visa is granted?

The child must enter Australia before the date specified in their grant letter, and that first entry date is generally set at 12 months from the date of visa grant. If they do not travel by that date, they can still travel with an expired first entry arrival date if the visa is still valid — but the visa may still be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border, so the safer reading is that the date in the grant letter should be treated as real.

The child and any family members included in the application must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws. The department also needs to be told about changes to the child's passport, the birth of a child, or a change of name. There is no visa label: the visa is digitally linked to the passport.

The above describes how the rules are published and is general information rather than an assessment of any one child's circumstances; where a decision turns on an individual case, the wording in force on the department's page and advice from a suitably qualified professional should govern it.

Who can be granted this visa, and can other children be included?

To be granted the visa, the child must be a dependent child of a parent who is an Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen, or the holder of an Australian permanent visa; be under 18, or aged 18 to 24 as a full-time student who depends financially on that parent, or over 18 and unable to work due to a disability; be single and dependent on the parent; and be outside Australia when the application is made.

Two further points about family members:

Siblings who also want to apply need separate applications — one per sibling.
The child's own dependent children can be included on the application when it is made, or at any time before a decision is made, and must meet the health requirement. Family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet that requirement.

Once a decision has been made, dependants cannot be added to this visa.

An adopted child must have been adopted before turning 18 by a parent who was not an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen at the time of adoption. A child adopted before 18 by a parent who already held one of those statuses may instead be eligible for the Adoption visa (subclass 102).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a child on the Subclass 101 visa get Medicare?

Yes. The department lists enrolment in Medicare, Australia's public healthcare scheme, among the entitlements of this visa. Enrolling is a separate step from holding the visa, and the visa itself does not enrol anyone automatically.

Is there a waiting period before other government payments start?

Possibly. The department notes that a newly arrived resident might have to wait to access certain Australian Government payments and benefits, with the waiting periods administered by Services Australia. The visa page does not state which payments or how long, so those periods should be confirmed against Services Australia's current published rules.

Can the child work, and are there limits on how much?

The child can work from the date the visa is granted, and the visa page sets out no work limitation. Australian workplace law protects them while working, and any condition attached to an individual grant should be checked in VEVO.

Can the child sponsor relatives straight after the visa is granted?

Sponsoring relatives is listed as an entitlement of the visa, and the page sets no waiting period for it. The sponsored relative still has to satisfy the requirements of the visa they apply for.

Is the visa still valid after the five-year travel period ends?

The permanent stay does not end. What ends is the ability to travel and re-enter as a permanent resident, which then requires a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157) unless the child has become an Australian citizen.

Can family members be added after the visa is granted?

No. Dependants cannot be added to this visa after a decision has been made; a family member would need to explore a separate visa option. The child's dependent children must be included before the decision if they are to be covered by this application.