Australian Passport Number

Identifies candidate Australian passport numbers using a broad one- or two-letter prefix followed by seven digits. The regex does not validate an issued passport series; Australian travel-document and issuing-nation evidence are required for enforcement.

Type: regex
Engine: universal
Confidence: low
Confidence justification: Low confidence standalone: the letter+digits pattern matches many non-passport identifiers. Travel-credential keywords are essential for reliable detection.
Detection quality: Verified
Jurisdictions: au
Regulations: AML/CTF Act (Cth), IPA 2009 (Qld), NDB Scheme (Cth), Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
Frameworks: ISO 27001
Data categories: pii, government-id
Scope: wide
Risk rating: 5
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Compatible, Netskope: Compatible

Pattern

\b[A-Z]{1,2}\d{7}\b

Corroborative evidence keywords

travel credentials, travel document reference, border document, DFAT, Australian Passport Office, passport, passport number, travel document, australian passport, ID number, identification, ID card, license, permit, registration, certificate

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

PA1234567 — Low-tier probe - candidate shape without passport context
Passport number: N1234567 — Medium-tier probe - candidate with travel-document context
Australian passport number R1234567 issued by DFAT — High-tier probe - travel-document and Australian issuing context
Travel document reference: AB1234567 — Medium-tier two-letter candidate with travel context

Should not match

1234567 — No letter prefix
ABC1234567 — Three-letter prefix is invalid
PA123456 — Only 6 digits after the letter prefix, one short of the required 7
Documentation example: Australian passport number PA1234567 — Structurally complete but explicitly documented example

Known false positives

Serial numbers and part codes using letter+digit format. Mitigation: Require travel-credential keywords in proximity.
Policy documents discussing passport formats without real data. Mitigation: Layer with additional structural signals and form-field context.

References

Australia passport number entity definition - Microsoft Learn