The Australian Border Force (ABF) has quietly launched a live trial of facial-recognition cameras at Canberra International Airport’s primary inspection line. Details published on the ABF website on 26 September confirm that, throughout September, arriving and departing travellers processed by officers—not SmartGates—may be asked to stand 85 cm from a lens so their image can be matched to passport chip data. The pilot is voluntary for passengers aged five and over, and those who decline will be processed through standard checks. ABF stresses that officers retain all clearance decisions and that “minimal impact” on queue times is expected. Collected biometrics will be stored in accordance with Australian privacy legislation and destroyed once evaluation is complete. Canberra is the third Australian airport to test next-generation manual-line biometrics, following earlier SmartGate and kiosk pilots in Sydney and Brisbane. The project feeds into Home Affairs’ Digital Passenger Journey programme, which aims to move to universal touchless border processing—and to retire the paper Incoming Passenger Card—before 2028. For corporate travel managers the trial signals a future in which all Australian ports, not just major hubs, rely on biometric verification. Travellers should be briefed on privacy settings (for example removing sunglasses and hats) and reassured that participation is optional. Organisations with heightened data-protection policies may wish to document opt-out procedures for staff.
Source: Australian Border Force
