SMARTGATE MAKES TRAVEL EASIER FOR ONE MILLION
29 January 2010
Customs and Border Protection has reached a significant milestone in the operation of its self-processing option for travellers, SmartGate.
More than one million travellers have now chosen to use SmartGate at Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Cairns and Melbourne international airports since the system was first implemented in Brisbane in August 2007.
Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O’Connor, said SmartGate has made processing through passport control simpler, easier and more convenient for Australians and New Zealanders with ePassports.
“The popularity of SmartGate is really encouraging and we expect usage figures to continue to increase as more travellers take advantage of the self-processing option. In the last three months alone, more than 330,000 travellers have used SmartGate at airports across Australia,” Mr O’Connor said.
SmartGate uses the electronic information in the e-Passport and face recognition technology to perform the customs and immigration checks that are usually conducted by a Customs and Border Protection officer.
Customs and Border Protection National Manager Strategic Development (Passengers), Michelle Kinnane, said Australia was one of the first countries in the world to use biometrics for the automated border processing of passengers and the success of SmartGate has generated international interest.
The next phase of the SmartGate Program will involve the implementation of SmartGate at Gold Coast International Airport in March 2010.
To be eligible to use SmartGate, Australian and New Zealand passengers will need to hold an e-Passport and be aged 18 years or over.
Contact: Brian Humphreys 0438 595 567 or Customs and Border Protection media (02) 6275 6793
Photos of passengers using SmartGate are available in the Customs Media image gallery at www.customs.gov.au
Broadcast quality vision of SmartGate in operation at Sydney Airport can be downloaded from http://customs.ondeadline.com.au
