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Australia to ditch paper arrival cards for incoming travellers
Digital customs declaration to be phased in at all international airports and seaports after successful Qantas trial
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The days of filling out paper arrival cards are to end for millions of travellers arriving in Australia on international flights.
The Albanese government has announced it will roll out digital passenger cards to all Australian international airports and seaports after a “successful” trial on Qantas flights into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
The paper forms, which ask passengers arriving in Australia for personal information and to declare any food, plant or animal products, have long been an annoyance for travellers arriving on long-haul flights.
‘So much easier’: How Australia’s new digital passenger declaration card works
Travellers will soon be able to farewell those annoying yellow paper declaration cards, after the government confirmed the rollout of digital incoming passenger cards for millions when arriving in Australia.
“By next year these [paper cards] will be a thing of the past,” Tourism and Transport Forum CEO, Margy Osmond, told Today, following the announcement that $56.1 million would be spent over four years to modernise the procedure.
Arriving into Australia is going to look a little different for passengers. Matt Jelonek
“It’s just an infinitely better experience. To be perfectly frank, the best airports in the world are already doing this. Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali! I think it’s time for Australia to move into the 21st century.”
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Faster arrivals, fewer queues: Orange passenger cards to go digital nationwide
The scramble for a pen on a packed flight will soon become a thing of the past as millions of travellers are set to ditch paper passenger cards under a $56.1 million push to modernise Australia’s borders.
The federal government will begin a nationwide rollout of the Australia Travel Declaration, a digital replacement for the orange incoming passenger card, after a trial involving more than 450,000 passengers on Qantas international flights.
The system will be expanded to all international airports and seaports over the next 12 to 18 months. Passengers will eventually be able to complete declarations online before arriving in Australia.
The rollout follows years of failed attempts to replace paper forms, including the abandoned Digital Passenger Declaration app launched in 2022 and the earlier Seamless Traveller initiative announced in 2016.
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