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The Australian Border Force (ABF) will trial a digital replacement for paper Incoming Passenger Cards (IPCs) from later this year.
The Australia Travel Declaration will be accessible to passengers on select Qantas flights from New Zealand, who will be able to complete it through the Qantas app up to 72 hours before arrival. Passengers will be sent a digital pass to their email and the app, including a QR code for ABF officers.
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This will streamline the customs and immigration process and allow passengers to leave potentially dangerous or prohibited goods behind rather than bringing them to Australia, the ABF says.
The scheme was developed through the Trans-Tasman Seamless Travel Group, which aims to improve the travel experience for passengers between Australia and New Zealand. Australian Border Force (ABF) commissioner Michael Outram said the move “presents opportunities to streamline processes, improve data quality, and offer a seamless experience for users”.
“The Australia Travel Declaration is the first initiative from the group and shows the power of a joint approach and leveraging expertise to modernise and improve the experience for travellers,” he said.
“We are excited by the possibilities this pilot program can open up for the future traveller experience – both in and out of Australia – and as we prepare to welcome the world when Brisbane hosts the Olympics in 2032.
“With this in our sights, we are continuing to collaborate with our agency partners and industry to set the global standard for traveller experience.”
The Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) has welcomed the pilot program, with CEO Margy Osmond calling the paper cards “a relic of the past”.
“These reforms will improve the airport experience for travellers when they arrive, whilst prioritising border security, through a more modern, efficient process, which we’ve long been advocating for,” she said.
“Today’s announcement is a culmination of TTF’s persistent advocacy efforts on behalf of industry and the impressive resolve of government agencies on both sides of the ditch to implement critical border reforms.
“The Trans-Tasman Seamless Travel Group will continue to meet to discuss further initiatives to enhance the passenger experience for Trans-Tasman travellers, taking advantage of technology to make travel quicker and easier and attract more visitors to our shores.
“We remain strongly committed to working with our New Zealand partners and advocating for further reforms towards seamless travel, to revolutionise the passenger experience for the benefit of the entire industry.”
The scrapping of paper IPCs has been signalled for some time, with the Morrison government in 2021 announcing a $75 million deal with Accenture for the Digital Passenger Declaration.
The Australia Travel Declaration will be rolled out to other airlines and routes pending a successful pilot program.
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says:So, we do away with the incoming passenger card and replace it with a computerized pre-travel arrival card. Result in basic terms, no change but increased work energy needs for the poor old passenger. Get real folks, “Border Controls” are here to stay and most likely in increased forms going forward. We need to know full details of incoming passengers and the only foolproof way is via the completed arrival form, passport with Visa if needed at the arrival check point. Quarantine needs are a different requirement and not needed with “Immigration” formalities. In real terms yes, improve/update the current system but don’t change it because it may well lead to an unplanned and not needed problem for the country to manage. Remember at all times, this is our country, not a holiday resort/playground for the masses and we need to ensure our safety even if it upsets someone else who probably doesn’t understand the problem anyway. The seasoned traveler will notice that some other countries are far more diligent on border controls than us so just be grateful and fill out the form and move on.
Greg Timbs
says:Increase in work energy needs for the poor old passenger? Are you serious?
This year I’ve travelled to Canada and New Zealand. They both have pre-departure digital passenger declaration cards. The folllowing countries to my knowledge also have them: Cambodia, Peoples Republic of China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines. Perhaps even more.
What’s the problem with a digital version of the hard-copy passenger declaration, asking the same questions as the hard-copy passsenger declaration, completed prior to the flight, at a time of my choosing, in the comfort of my own home, on my own device, with my answers capable of being edited later, displayed in front of the customs, quarantine & immigration officials, upon my arrival?
We have paperless e-tickets instead of paper airline tickets. We have airline apps permitting online check-in within 24 hours of the flight, cutting down on time at the airport check-in counter. We have airline apps displaying a paperless Q-Code boarding pass.
My recent NZ travel experience, a country with similar immigration, customs & quarantine concerns as Australia:
– I completed the electronic passenger declaration and with nothing to declare I sailed through the arrivals hall, with one brief contact with an official who checked my e-Passport against my online declaration.
– On returning to Australia, flight attendants walk the aisles handing out passenger declaration cards, waking some passengers to do so. After dutifully completing my card onboard, I lost it down the side of my seat in the dark cabin, relocated after some contortion in my seat when the lights came on at descent. Then on arrival in SYD, I juggled my backpack, carry-on bag, duty-free, completed passenger declaration and e-passport to an electronic kiosk where I was asked to scan my e-passport and answer two more questions, one of them was a supplementary question, and the other was the same as on my declaration card! It then produces yet another piece of paper for me to juggle. I then had to flash this at an usher who directed me down the correct aisleway to the SmartGate for Australian e-passport holders. Then dispose of the paper in a bin overflowing with them. Then as I exited, the Border Force officer took my passenger declaration, glanced over it and threw it in a bin. Seriously?
With an online declaration form, questions can be added and amended in response to outbreaks of diseases of concern in specific regions of the world, rendering this large, expensive kiosk asking supplementary questions completely unnecessary, and removing the need to redesign, reprint and distribute a new hard-copy passenger declaration card, and dispose of the redundant ones. It also cuts down on paper waste: two pieces of paper no longer required.
From a passenger convenience perspective, I for one am sick of juggling my carry-on, duty-free, baggage receipt, paper boarding pass, e-passport, quick pass AND passenger declaration form.
There’s a better, less wasteful way. It’s high time Australia moved into the 21st century.