If you will be under the age of 18 while studying in Australia, you must fulfil one of the following two requirements:
Guardianship (i.e. non-relative)
Provide with your visa application a signed statement from your education provider (i.e. the College you are enrolling with) confirming that appropriate guardianship arrangements have been made for your accommodation, support and general welfare
Guardianship arrangements can be made through our Homestay provider, Meridian Services. Students under 18 years of age must not change accommodation or any other welfare arrangements without consulting the College. This is a requirement of the Australian Government.
Please contact the Student Services Department at your College for further information.
OR
Parent, Custodian or Nominated Carer (i.e. relative)
Declare in your visa application that you will be residing in Australia with a parent or a custodian (your legal guardian), or a relative aged at least 21 years who has been nominated by either your parent or your custodian.
If a carer is to be nominated, Australian migration regulations defines him or her as “a person who has the right to have the daily care and control of the student and the right and responsibility to make decisions concerning their daily care and control.”
The only person who may be nominated as your carer by a parent or custodian is a RELATIVE who is AT LEAST 21 years old and who is of good character.
A relative eligible to be nominated as a carer is a brother, sister, step-parent, step-brother, step-sister, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, step-grandparent, step-aunt, step-uncle, step-niece or step-nephew.
To establish that a nominated carer is of good character, the student will be required to provide evidence of police clearance of the carer in the country or countries in which they have resided for more than 12 months in the past 10 years after the age of 16.
Further information is available from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) website www.immi.gov.au