The Australian Document of Identity (DOI) is a

travel document A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the beare ...

issued by the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

Australian citizen Australian nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds Australian legal nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applic ...

s and some

Commonwealth citizen A Commonwealth citizen is a citizen or qualified national of a Commonwealth of Nations member state. Most member countries do not treat citizens of other Commonwealth states any differently from foreign nationals, but some grant limited citizen ...

s in specific and rare circumstances. It is not intended to be a broadly used

identity document An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

in Australia, nor does it generally provide evidence of citizenship or residency. The

Australian Certificate of Identity The Australian Certificate of Identity (COI) is a biometric travel document issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to individuals who are not Australian citizens and are about to leave Australia or one of its territories. It should ...

is a related document issued for use by certain persons who do not hold Australian or Commonwealth citizenship.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Document of Identity is to allow an Australian citizen to travel to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

without the need for a

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

. By th
Australian Passports Determination 2005
a Document of identity is also issued to Australian citizens to whom it is ''unnecessary or undesirable to issue a passport'' and, under ''compassionate circumstance'', to non-Australian Commonwealth nationals who are ''unable obtain a valid travel document from their country or countries of nationality''. Examples of this include: Australian citizens who have been denied a passport due to them having an outstanding

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...

, Australian citizens who request a document of identity instead of a passport, Australian citizens who are

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

, Australian citizens being

repatriated Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

to Australia or

extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

, and Australian citizens whose travel the Minister believes should be restricted.

Eligibility

A person in one of the following can apply for a DOI: * An Australian citizen to whom the issue of an Australian passport is unnecessary or undesirable * A

who cannot obtain a valid travel document for the country or countries of which he/she has nationality for compassionate reasons when he/she needs to travel urgently

Validity

Documents of Identity are issued free to travel to Norfolk Island, but other Documents of Identity are usually only for a single journey, and for a limited period. Many countries do not recognize a Document of Identity as a valid travel document. Furthermore, possession of a currently-valid Australian passport excludes the holder from applying for a Document of Identity.

References

External links

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Travel DocumentsTravel Related Documents
International travel documents Government of Australia Identity documents of Australia {{Australia-gov-stub

Purpose

Eligibility

Validity

See also

References

External links