Australian Passport Photos

What You Need To Know About Australian Passport Photos

When you submit an Australian passport application, you'll need to include two photographs that meet the specifications set by the Australian Passport Office. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade applies these standards strictly. Photos that fall outside the published guidelines can delay an application, trigger a request for replacement images, or cause issues at international borders where biometric matching is used.

What you need to submit

Both adult and child applications require two identical printed photographs, taken within the last six months and showing your current appearance. You may need a guarantor to endorse the back of one photo in black pen using the wording specified on your application.

Photo size and head positioning

Each printed photo must measure between 35mm and 40mm wide and between 45mm and 50mm high.

Within that frame, the height of the face, measured from the bottom of the chin to the crown of the head (the top of the skull, not the hairline or the top of the hair) must fall between 32mm and 36mm. The head must be centred, upright, and squared to the camera.

Print quality and paper

The Passport Office specifies prints on high gloss, with a minimum 200gsm heavy-weight photographic dye-sublimation paper. Inkjet prints, low grade photo paper, and home printer output are generally not accepted. Dye-sublimation prints provide the resolution, finish, and colour stability the standard calls for.

Prints must be free of marks, ink spots, dust, scratches, pixelation, and printing artefacts.

Pose and facial expression

For anyone aged 3 years old and over, the photo must show:

• A neutral expression — no smiling, frowning, or raised eyebrows

• Eyes open and clearly visible

• Mouth closed

• Head facing the camera straight on, not tilted or turned

For infants and children under three, an open mouth is acceptable. Babies must appear alone in the frame, with no toys, dummies, bottles, or supporting hands visible.

Background

The background must be plain white, or neutral grey, and must contrast clearly with the face and hair. It needs to be free of patterns, textures, objects, shadows, and other people. The background must be captured in-camera — it cannot be added, replaced, or edited in afterwards.

Lighting

Lighting must be even across the face, with natural skin tones and no bright spots, dark patches, or colour casts. There must be no shadows behind the head, or behind the ears. Reflections and glare are not permitted.

This is one of the harder specifications to meet outside a properly equipped studio, because it depends on controlled multi-source lighting rather than ambient or single-source light.

Glasses

Glasses are not permitted in Australian passport photos, even for people who wear prescription lenses every day. The only exception is where glasses cannot be removed for documented medical reasons and supporting documentation is required.

Additionally the lenses must show no glare and must not obscure the eyes.

Vision impairment on its own is not accepted as grounds to wear glasses in the photo.

Jewellery, piercings, and hearing aids

Jewellery and piercings are permitted provided they don't obscure any part of the face — particularly around the eyes, nose, and mouth — and don't cause visible reflections. Hearing aids may be worn as normal.

Head coverings

Religious head coverings are accepted. They must be plain with no patterns of any kind, including small ones and worn so the entire face is visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, with both edges of the face clear. Hats, caps, and non-religious headwear are not permitted.

Hair

Hair must be clear of the eyes and eyelids. It shouldn't cover the eyebrows in a way that hides them, and it shouldn't fall across the face. Ears do not need to be visible. See the examples provided.

Editing and retouching

Australian passport photos must be unedited. The Passport Office does not accept:

• Filters or app-based enhancements

• Skin smoothing or blemish removal

• Removal of moles, scars, wrinkles, or red-eye

• Background removal or replacement

• Brightness or colour adjustments that alter facial appearance

• Any post-capture alteration

Even subtle edits can interfere with the biometric matching systems used at Australian and overseas borders, so the image must reflect your true, unaltered appearance.

What the Australian Passport Office says about online services and apps

The Passport Office advises applicants to use a professional passport photo provider like Gold Coast Passport Photography, rather than online services or mobile apps. Two reasons are given:

1. Quality — apps and home setups rarely meet the lighting, paper, and dimension requirements.

2. Identity protection — uploading facial images to unknown online services creates an identity fraud risk.