Services for Australians Overseas
Consular Assistance
Consular Assistance is available to Australian citizens living in and travelling through Kiribati and is provided by the Australian High Commission in Tarawa. The High Commission also provides services to Canadian citizens in Kiribati under the Canada-Australia Consular Services Sharing Agreement.
The Consular Services Section is open from 0900-1600 hours Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). If you require consular assistance, please contact us on +686 7402 1184 during these hours.
For consular emergencies outside of these hours please call +686 7402 1184 and follow the prompts to connect to the the Consular Emergency Centre in Canberra.
If you are in Australia, contact the Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135.
The Consular Services Section does not accept or process applications for visas for entry to Australia, or applications for Australian citizenship. Our office in Suva, Fiji manages visa services for clients in Kiribati.
The Consular Services Charter - What help we may be able to provide and what we cannot do
The Australian Government will do what it can to help Australians in difficulty overseas, but there are legal and practical limits to what help we may be able to provide. Information on the services we may be able to provide and information on what we cannot do are outlined in the Consular Services Charter.
We ask that you:
- take personal responsibility for your travel choices, your safety, finances and behaviour overseas, including obeying the laws of the country you're visiting
- take out appropriate travel and medical insurance
- follow our travel advice at smartraveller.gov.au and the advice of local authorities
- protect your passport and report promptly if it is lost or stolen
- treat consular staff with respect and be honest in providing us with all relevant information when seeking our assistance
- give us feedback to help us to improve our services
What help we may provide:
Each case is unique and our assistance will depend on the circumstances and availability of consular resources. We may be able to
- issue replacement passports and travel documents for a fee
- provide details of local doctors and hospitals
- provide advice and support if you're the victim of a serious assault, or other crime, or you're arrested, including details of local lawyers and interpreters
- visit or contact you to check on your welfare if you're arrested or detained, and do what we can to ensure you're treated the same as others detained under the laws of the country in which you're arrested
- provide advice and support in a range of other cases including the death of relatives overseas, missing persons and kidnappings
- if you agree, contact friends or family on your behalf. In some circumstances we may need to contact your friends or family where we've been unable to get your consent
- make special arrangements in cases of international terrorism, civil disturbances and natural disasters (fees may apply)
- provide some notarial services, including witnessing and authenticating documents and administering oaths and affirmations (fees apply)
- in some locations, provide voting services for Australian federal and some state elections
What we can’t do:
Some tasks are outside the consular role. For example, we can't
- guarantee your safety and security in another country or make your travel arrangements
- give you legal advice, interpret or translate documents
- intervene in another country's court proceedings or legal matters including employment disputes, commercial disputes, criminal cases, and family law matters or child custody disputes
- investigate crimes or deaths overseas, or carry out searches for missing people, which are the responsibility of local authorities
- get you out of prison or prevent you from being deported
- get you better treatment in prison than local prisoners
- post bail or pay your fines or legal expenses
- enforce an Australian or any other custody agreement overseas or compel a country to decide a custody case
- pay for medical or psychiatric services or medications
- pay your pension or social security benefits
- arrange visas, licences, work or residency permits for other countries
- intervene in immigration, customs or quarantine matters in other countries
- store luggage or other personal items
- receive or send postal items on your behalf
Living in Country
Former residents
A gateway to information about Australian benefits, payments and services
Centrelink International Services
Provides information about Centrelink International Services, the area of Centrelink responsible for delivery of social welfare payments to customers who are outside of Australia for 13 weeks or more.
Returning to Australia
Handy information for Australians or residents returning from a holiday or moving back to Australia.
Taking cats and dogs to Australia