score:9
I did the obvious thing and called the embassy in DC this morning, and was advised that my wife can accompany me into the area where passport renewals are done and remain there when I go to the service window while I renew my passport.
Upvote:5
It's impossible for us to say as it depends a great deal on the discretion of the security staff.
The Australian embassy is rarely under the type of security alerts that Israeli or American embassies face, but there are times when they for any number of reasons might want to restrict visitors to strictly those with business before them. Sometimes they're just so busy that they don't have enough seating, so they restrict people then too.
You should plan on going with your spouse and they can let your spouse in - mazel tov. But just in case they won't, you should have already checked to see which cafes are nearby and made plans to meet your spouse there later on.
This also has the advantage that if you had any impermissible items on your body (cellphones with cameras; pocketknives; handgun; polonium; etc.), your spouse is already ready to take them and hold them at the cafe for you.