Replacing lost or stolen passports

By law, you must report the loss or theft of your passport to us as soon as possible. This will help to prevent criminal misuse of the document, and protect your identity (see Passport fraud). Your passport will be immediately and permanently cancelled, cannot be reinstated and must not be used for travel should you find it later.

If you are in Australia, you can report a loss or theft by calling the Australian Passport Information Service (APIS) on 131 232. If overseas, you can contact your nearest Australian diplomatic or consular mission.

If your passport has been stolen, you should also report the incident to the police and ensure that you obtain a copy of the police report – this applies in Australia and overseas. See the Smartraveller website for more information.

From 1 January 2016, penalty fees for lost and stolen passports will no longer be charged.  However, unless we are satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist, repeated losses will result in reduced validity for your next passport:

• two losses in five years will result in your new document having a validity of five years
• three or more losses in five years will result in the issue of a document valid for a maximum of two years.