The orange incoming passenger card handed out on every international flight into Australia is being replaced by a digital declaration completed before departure, under a $56.1 million program expanding from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports to every international air and sea port within 18 months.
The digital declaration lets passengers submit their arrival details through an app or web form up to three days before travel. The system issues a QR code, delivered in the app or by email, which Australian Border Force officers scan in the arrivals hall. The paper card stays available for anyone who cannot use the digital version.
The declaration has been trialled since October 2024 on selected Qantas flights. The expansion takes it to the three largest international gateways first, the remaining capital cities by the end of the year, and all international air and sea ports within 12 to 18 months. A web form open to travellers on any airline is due to complete the rollout in 2027.
Tony Burke, the Home Affairs Minister, put the case in security terms: "Traveller modernisation is essential to Australia's prosperity and national security." Don Farrell, the Tourism Minister, called the change "a win for tourists and a win for our tourism operators".
The cost is $56.1 million over four years. Australia is a late mover on this: New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea already run digital arrival declarations for incoming travellers.
Passengers flying into Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will start seeing the option in airline apps first, with the rest of the country's gateways to follow by the end of the year. The orange card is not being retired yet. It is being outlasted.
