It’s time we axed Australia’s incoming passenger card
Where is the digital version of the Australian orange arrivals card?
By David Flynn, August 12 2024
“Australia, the clever country”? Not clever enough to have ditched those old-fashioned ‘incoming passenger cards’ which every overseas visitors and returning residents have to fill out.
Yes, we tried it a few years ago, with the Digital Passenger Declaration, and what a debacle that turned out to be.
Global IT giant Accenture spent $60 million of taxpayer’s money across a staggering three years to develop the Digital Passenger Declaration system, with $75 million going towards just the smartphone app.
But the Digital Passenger Declaration was so appallingly bad in just about every measure – as any traveller of the time can attest – that after being launched in February 2022, it was unceremoniously ditched in just five months, in July.
In scrapping the DPD, then-Home Affairs minister Clare O’Neil agreed “it needs a lot more work to make it user-friendly,” but restated the Government’s aim to have a digital solution replace the current orange-coloured arrivals cards.
Yet here we are, two years down the track, and while an increasing number of countries have adopted a streamlined digital solution for international arrives – most recently Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand – Australia is in equal parts luddite and laggard.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has slammed the long-lived incoming passenger card as a “total embarrassment”, and they’re not wrong.
And a digital arrivals card doesn’t seem that hard to do.
Singapore’s SG Arrival Card is probably the best example to study, beginning with the ability to create a passenger profile so you don’t have to re-enter every piece of personal information for every trip.
However, it’d be handy to be able to complete the form more than three days before entering the country.
Malaysia’s Digital Arrival Card, on the other hand, contains great examples of what not to do, such as an incredibly non-standard and unintuitive calendar system for selecting your fate of birth and the date of your passport’s expiry.
This is actually the second 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 for a digital arrivals card which would be trialled in early 2018.
Of course, that never eventuated, while the Digital Passenger Declaration of 2022 fully deserved its quick death.
Maybe in the saga of Australia’s digital arrivals card, the third time will be the charm…
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1207
Just buy another country's system. Why does Australia always think it can do better and start from scratch and end up with a disaster? As well as the DPD, Victoria is still stuck with a hopeless public transport ticketing system because the government of the time thought they could develop a world-leading system but, instead, ended up with a joke.
You are right that Singapore has a good system but so does Indonesia. You complete the online form and end up with a QR code on your phone that is scanned in Customs and the officer can quickly determine if further action is required from their handheld reader.
04 Sep 2019
Total posts 68
Don't reinvent the wheel is a phrase that comes to mind
Swallow your ego and just implement a solution
09 May 2011
Total posts 24
I don’t have an issue with a paper arrival card, it gives people the option who are not mobile/tech savvy ( like the older group of people) an option otherwise.
What I would like to see is a simplified set of questions. Things like profession, where I spent most time, and how long for are just irrelevant given the authorities have access to those via a wide range of systems ( government databases, visa info, Medicare etc) , plus also airlines will have sent some ofthis data prior to landing to authorities.
I think given our somewhatunique arrival process where everyone has an interaction with a customs officer, the arrival card should solely focus on the customs declaration aspect, and nothing else.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2013
Total posts 144
They could add one more question on quarantine on the passport reading machine and get rid of the card, and use sniffer dogs more frequently!
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1560
What strike me here is $75 million for smartphone app! Seriously???? I am software developer and can assure you that this figure included very and I mean very healthy cash back.
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1560
I cannot get why Australia passport holders need this card to begin with? Government know everything about me from my passport anyway. Just make another tick at automatic passport machine that reads "Do you need anything to declare?" and then 5 pages of small prints for curious mind. This is it.
13 Aug 2024
Total posts 1
Even Bali has one
05 Feb 2022
Total posts 5
That would be Indonesia 😉
11 Mar 2012
Total posts 315
"fate of birth" seems a bit spiritual! :-)
22 Jun 2020
Total posts 7
Border force are super slow in achieving this innovation. They need to be held much more accountable for their inaction!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Apr 2012
Total posts 318
Having to also get a ticket at a Kiosk before you even reach the smart gates for inbound passengers seems really redundant also. Why not just have the passport reader and Egates all integrated into one like all other countries seem to have?
12 Aug 2022
Total posts 11
$75 million on a smartphone App just boggles my mind. What an absolute waste of tax payer money. Service NSW is a pretty good example of an Agile Gov organisation with decent Apps and technology. I reckon they should have them do it and then roll it out across the rest of the states.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Oct 2016
Total posts 115
$75mil is outrageous! I run a software development company that has built a number of unique and complex and secure apps for a FRACTION of that cost!! We could only dream about budgets that outsized... I tell you what AU Govt - we'll do it for you for 65mil - what a deal :)
Regarding the DPD, I only got the chance to use it once but the app didn't seem that bad to me... I think the most ridiculous thing was they ALSO made us fill out a card as well and I challenged the immigration officer on the absurdity of this who had no logical answer - something like "thats the intention of the system, you need to do both..."
Also some comments about we're not intelligent but I've just arrived back into the country and they've changed the e-gates again, so that now you answer the 2 questions on the kiosk, it takes a photo of you at the kiosk, prints a different slip of paper with your photo on it (for immigration), and then when you get to the e-gate it takes a photo of you and lets you out. No using the passport twice (at both kiosk and e-gate). I suppose there is some logic to this - but in one sense I did wonder why not just have the kiosk be the e-gate as well.... But nevertheless, I thought we seemed to be getting quite intelligent compared to UK and EU!
And finally just on the paper cards - it is completely embarrassing!! It's like the 1990's... Scrabbling around for pens when everyone is bleary eyed just waking up and trying to complete this LONG WINDED nonsense before you land, including digging out your passport that is securely stowed so its not lost somewhere in the seat and on it goes...
29 Nov 2021
Total posts 3
Australian Border Force (ABF) announced (16-Aug-2024) plans to commence a pilot programme with industry for an Australian Travel Declaration - a digital alternative to the paper incoming passenger card (IPC) for travellers arriving in Australia. ABF has been working with Qantas Airways to pilot the Australia Travel Declaration for immigration, customs and biosecurity status on entry to Australia. Later in 2024, passengers on select Qantas services from New Zealand will be invited to complete the declarations through the Qantas app up to 72 hours prior to arrival.
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