Here is Australia’s new digital incoming passenger card
The new Australia Travel Declaration is now available on selected international flights.
By David Flynn, October 23 2024
Australia is finally catching up with the rest of the world in ditching its incoming passenger card for overseas visitors and returning residents, with the debut of a new digital alternative: the Australia Travel Declaration (ATD).
The digital Australia Travel Declaration is now being piloted on selected Qantas flights from New Zealand to Brisbane, beginning with QF126 from Auckland to Brisbane, with plans to extend the trial to other Qantas NZ-Brisbane flights this week.
Additional Australian destinations and other international Qantas routes are set to join the program “in the coming months”, says Qantas, which is trialling the fast-
tracked arrival process as part of a joint initiative with the Australian Government.
The system generates a QR code that passengers present to Border Force officers upon arrival, replacing the need for a paper card.
Passengers on selected Qantas flights can now complete their Australian arrivals card right in the app.
However, the Australia Travel Declaration will be an airline-agnostic platform, with a spokesperson for the Australian Border Force (ABF) confirming to Executive Traveller that eventually a Government-run “purpose-built website will be available” – and, we can only presume, an app – for completing the Australia Travel Declaration.
Passengers will have three days to fill out the digital ATD, with the in-app version available up to 72 hours before departure.
Having the ATD initially built into the Qantas app has no doubt speed the ‘time to market’ for this trial, compared to the ABF building its own website form the outset, and could also open the way for other airlines to integrate the ATD into their own apps to provide travellers with a one-stop service.
How the new Australian Travel Declaration looks when integrated into an airline app (in this case, the Qantas app).
Qantas Chief Customer and Digital Officer, Catriona Larritt, said the airline’s partnership with the ATD would “make flying into Australia that little bit easier for millions of tourists and Australians each year.”
“The paperless declaration means no more trying to find a pen and your flight details midway through your flight” in order to scribble down all your details on that orange incoming passenger card.
During these early stages of the Qantas ATD trial the digital declaration is available only to adult passengers on single bookings, but by mid-next year it’s expected to accommodate bookings with children and groups.
Those who prefer the existing paper card can still opt for it during the trial phase.
The Australia Travel Declaration is part of the Trans-Tasman Seamless Travel Group's efforts to facilitate seamless travel between Australia and New Zealand, with ABF Commissioner Michael Outram praising the ATD as a "key foundation for future streamlined and contactless travel."
Third time’s the charm...
And as we argued only recently, replacing the paper incoming passenger card with a digital version is long overdue.
This is now the third time Australia has attempted to replace the paper-based incoming passenger card.
The Government’s ‘seamless traveller’ initiative of 2016, which was behind the rollout of passport smartgates using facial ID, also included plans – which never eventuated – for a digital arrivals card to be trialled in early 2018.
Global IT giant Accenture then spent $60 million of taxpayer’s money across a staggering three years to develop the Digital Passenger Declaration platform, including a smartphone app which went live in February 2022 as post-pandemic travel kicked in.
But the Digital Passenger Declaration was so appallingly bad in just about every measure – as any traveller of the time can attest – that it was axed after only five months, in July 2022.
Perhaps those two strikes against it might explain the ABF’s caution in ‘beta-testing’ the Australia Travel Declaration with a staged rollout across a series of tightly controlled markets, such as trans-Tasman travellers.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1206
2032 Olympics!!! Surely we can get it working well before then.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 May 2018
Total posts 74
This truly is rubbish. You only have to watch the tv program to see that there are heaps who won't fill out the current card correctly. So.. just run the dogs over all baggage (they will pick up food etc) and again in the arrivals will pick up anything on the body..
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Oct 2016
Total posts 174
Unfortunately it is actually pretty easy to fool the dogs, I am not going to tell you how, but part of my work is in a corrections environment where the exact same training is given and the dogs are good for catching amateurs or most often decoy passengers. Intelligence is more valuable, which ironically a pre-filled arrival form (like Singapore) is ideal for as you can map seeming unrelated peoples on a series of flights over a wide span of time, especially handy where the AFP might have also been given a decoy. Decoy come is with 500g and gets a few years (usually as a trade to pay debt) while 10kg comes in over a few others. They often know when there is a tip there are likely to be others - but they may not have the time to identify and intercept
23 Sep 2023
Total posts 16
Interesting insights. Thanks. As you say, the digital arrival data can be prechecked for patterns to catch these groups.
08 Feb 2018
Total posts 166
Yes, stop with this nonsense. Hand out a flyer with the rules in all the different languages and if rules are broken then it’s on them. Simple
05 May 2018
Total posts 3
Here we go again... Round... 3?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Feb 2017
Total posts 5
Please don’t re-hash the travel declaration that they ran in 21/22. It was terrible. Look at what Singapore, Canada, every other country do and stay away from the 21/22 version!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Sep 2016
Total posts 8
Just been through Singapore and it’s not so good - very clunky app and needs vast improvement to make it user friendly.
Going by the numbers outside the gates trying to enter details into the app I wasn’t the only one who thought the same.
09 May 2020
Total posts 571
Let’s see how long and expensive ABF will take to do an app this time, given the recent experience of their DPD during COVID-19 measures.
The DPD was meant to be simple, this arrival declaration is more complex and involved so not holding my breath then
04 Sep 2020
Total posts 8
Why do we even need a replacement for the paper cards? Just scrap the whole pointless rubbish entirely. There are plenty of countries that don't require such cards and even the US has completely abandoned it.
Half the information on that card is already in the passport anyway, and most information is never even verified. If the only relevant question is "do you have anything to declare", just ask at the Immigration ticket kiosks.
05 Oct 2017
Total posts 527
Exactly. Even countries, which love bureaucracy, such as Thailand, have done away with these forms (at least for arrivals by air but also busy land border crossings).
01 Feb 2012
Total posts 371
Sharing horror stories - I filled in 5 cards late in the night after finally putting 3 young kids to sleep in a light blue pen. Got to the front of the line, and they told me light blue doesn't count as blue, and I needed to refill all 5 forms again. Took me over 30 minutes in total, and how meaningful is it to ask a 2 yo whether they have brought in 10k of cash.
Physical forms can be fine, if its just one per household...
26 Jul 2015
Total posts 78
How can the government's IT suppliers get it SO wrong everytime they try to do anything? For this one, ask the Singaporean Government nicely is we could use theirs and off to pay a couple of million for it, then keep it out of any Anustrlian IT specialists hands and bingo, home and hosed!
14 Nov 2011
Total posts 23
I think you’ve spelt Force incorrectly. It should be an a and not an o!
07 Mar 2017
Total posts 62
Entering details in advance on a website isn't "seamless".
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
12 Apr 2017
Total posts 207
Agree. This is an example of nonsensical government interference. We could cut all forms of government by 80% and all we would see is an improved life for all citizens as well as trillions of dollars saved.
23 Sep 2023
Total posts 16
I'm sure the citizens of Haiti would heartily agree with you. /s
28 Jan 2024
Total posts 2
The next step should be for Australia to remove the need to visit a kiosk between landing and immigration. Last Thursday I arrived home to Singapore and didn’t even need to show my passport to clear.
21 Aug 2024
Total posts 1
Hurrah! No more trying to figure out where the light yellow bordered boxes are, when you’re trying to fill the form in under the reading light on an overnight flight.
21 Dec 2012
Total posts 44
as many countries have demonstrated, they're a largely useless holdover - but if we must have these forms filled out, why is there a time limit? If I've filled it in 2 weeks beforehand to say I'm not bringing something to declare - if circumstances change 1 week out or 4 hours before flight and i have something I need to declare, I still need to declare. Everything up until the moment I hit customs/immigration is relevant
Etihad - Etihad Guest
09 Jun 2019
Total posts 12
Why only 3 days prior to entry for submission of the digital card? The US ESTA for can be submitted any time. However, the Malaysia card can only be submitted (strictly) three days prior, which is a real pain.
20 Nov 2015
Total posts 474
Well the US ESTA is different because it's a single 'visa waiver' pass covering many years, this ATD is a per-trip 'travel declaration' along the same lines as the ones in Malaysia and Singapore which as you've mentioned can only be done within 72hrs of your flight, which I agree is annoying!
Velocity
19 Jun 2013
Total posts 65
How’s about Accenture or whoever gets the job this time, spend $195M ($125M + $75M, by the look of it…) of their OWN money, developing this, to the full implementation stage - not just a trial, due the vast difference in volume. If it actually works, the govt pays them. If not, well… “nice try, thanks for coming”, followed by a warm handshake.
Meantime, every hacker on the Eurasian continent, must be rubbing their hands in anticipation.
16 Apr 2021
Total posts 2
Even here in Cambodia we have had an app for while. Embarrassing how long Aus is taking to get this sorted. It's also still only just a trial/pilot coming "later this year".
06 Aug 2014
Total posts 3
Just do away with this trash like many other countries have.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Apr 2016
Total posts 3
Digital better but only if relevant questions and they are not asked again.
The terminals before immigration ask a lot of the same questions.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Oct 2016
Total posts 11
We could of course just copy some other countries working app but “Oh no, we are Australian, we are the best in the world at everything, lets write our own app”
This traveller just tells them he is an orphan with no friends when they ask why he hasn’t filled out an emergency contact on the papercard. @tiredofbeinganarrogantaustralian
18 Sep 2018
Total posts 9
When I arrived in Korea, no paperwork was required (PR, nothing to declare), so I was through kerbside in under 15 minutes.
When I returned to Australia, it took almost an hour, with a large portion of this time spent queuing due to the lack of clearance lanes and the bulk queuing for the 3 workers looking at arrival cards.
I usually hide my Australian Passport behind my passport holder out of embarrassment at the mess of customs, immigration, and quarantine in this country. I expect long delays when entering a developing country, not the 13th most prosperous country in the world. I don't blame the workers; I blame the lack of them. Do the $70 PMC and the $400 passport not support investing in sufficient workers or technology?
Scrap arrival forms for citizens and permanent residents unless they have something to declare.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Sep 2017
Total posts 9
A whole hour, stop complaining, they keep us save from the ravages of disease, If you don't like it Gavin, or os it Karen, don't go to Australia, they won't miss you
03 Oct 2011
Total posts 39
Is there a typo? "...Accenture then spent $60 million of taxpayer’s money across a staggering three years to develop the Digital Passenger Declaration platform, including a reported $75 million going towards just the smartphone app...." How can $60 million over three years (average $20 million per year) include $75 million?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2560
Yes, that was a conflation of two aspects of the contract, has now been edited thanks.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 761
Interesting, what could possibly go wrong (aside from a flat phone battery upon arrival).
16 Apr 2021
Total posts 2
Even tiny Cambodia has had a digital system for some time. This is just embarrassing.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Apr 2017
Total posts 32
So it’s a race to see which we will be able to do at Melbourne AP first…. arrive without a paper card or catch a train from AP to the city….
26 Mar 2020
Total posts 70
So what about flat phone battery, no wifi (for those travelling without global roaming) or simply lost your phone during your travels?
When I travel my phone battery almost down to 50% when you factor having to use Qantas App, Uber App, Banking Apps at least with these there are workarounds and not in a situation where you at border control waiting for your phone to load while it decides to go through an IOS update
13 Aug 2024
Total posts 1
A number of respondents have mentioned that the USA does not have customs declaration cards (or equivalent). That may be right but last time I entered the USA in LA we were required to spend quite some time at a computer terminal answering all sorts of questions before we were allowed in. This was in 2020 just before COVID.
15 Sep 2021
Total posts 13
Why, Why, Why does everything have to be so complicated?
Simple really, your passport is unique to you and contains all the information needed (apart from what you had for breakfast) so all we need is Passport Number and are you declaring anything.
Yes (then you go one way for further discussion) No then off you go
Simple!
28 Apr 2021
Total posts 31
Not everyone has a mobile phone although it might be a small percentage - So?
Also some elderly or even unwell Passengers might might have difficulties in managing the digital ATD. - will there be someone to hold their hand?
25 Jun 2018
Total posts 49
As per Boeing-Tragic. What could possibly go wrong? We refuse to carry a mobile phone!
QF
03 Jul 2015
Total posts 23
Hmm, on a flight with no wifi, no paper cards handed out, so I can't fill out the app. I bet plenty will get caught like that.
Or flat battery etc etc.
And what about those who don't have phones, if paper cards are to be abandoned?
But nothing in Australia could be worse than arriving at LAX during a busy period!
23 Sep 2022
Total posts 3
If it's half as good as the NZ one then it should be great and a welcome advance from the tiny card that is so hard to write in little boxes.
The NZ website did ask quite a few questions but was easy to complete and made arrival into Auckland seamless for us last week.
Air Canada - Aeroplan
28 Feb 2015
Total posts 115
The Canadian version, done really quickley via the ArriveCAN app, can be done not more than 72 hours before one's arrival time in Canada (not departure time from wherever one is). No QR code is generated, only an email confirming receipt of one's declaration. It appears the declaration is associated with one's passport as I've never had to produce any sort of confirmation at the border..
08 Sep 2019
Total posts 3
We arrived at Sydney airport on around 6.30 am on the morning of 28/09/2024. ABF officer screaming directing passengers to the respective lines. What a mess for Sydney airport - hundreds and hundreds of arriving paxs congregating and trying to find their way around. Australian citizens returning home, with full declaration, were searched like - you know who....Very disappointed with the service. Tourists arriving, I am sure, would be very frustrated and disappointed.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
24 Feb 2022
Total posts 14
I just arrived in Singapore
Their new gates are amazing!
You don’t need to scan your passport, it matches your online arrival application, takes your photo and lets you through, amazing!
A little embarrassing for us 😆😆
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1564
I am curious why it is impossible to make this declaration on reverse side of boarding pass? Just those "tick" boxes because everything else could be found on front side. Digital will not save much time because one need not to forget to fill it up and print that magic barcode. Nope, I am not going to use app, thanks. And how about those who do not have access to website and/or printer - they still have to do it manually? Ditch those cards altogether or even better as I said print on reverse of boarding pass something "I declare that I do not bring to Australia........<here is the list what not to bring>", so only signature required. And for those who need to declare something Red Gates always open.
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