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 government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

Australian citizen The primary law governing nationality of Australia is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia. All persons born in Australia before 20 August 198 ...

s and some

Commonwealth citizen A Commonwealth citizen is a citizen of a Commonwealth of Nations member state. Most member countries generally do not treat citizens of other Commonwealth states any differently from foreign nationals, but may grant limited citizenship rights ...

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

identity document An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...

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 shou ...

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 ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

without the need for a

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

. 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 jud ...

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

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, Australian citizens being

repatriated Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. 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 the return of mi ...

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

to Australia or

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

, 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 Documents

Travel Related Documents
International travel documents Government of Australia Identity documents of Australia {{Australia-gov-stub

Purpose

Eligibility

Validity

See also

References

External links