[Australia]: Department of Home Affairs Media Centre

[Owen]

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Overview​

The Department of Home Affairs is the Australian Government interior ministry with responsibilities for national security, law enforcement, emergency management, border control, immigration, refugees, citizenship, transport security and multicultural affairs. The portfolio also includes federal agencies such as the Australian Border Force, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. The functions of the department are broadly classified into the following matters as laid out in an Administrative Arrangements Order: National security policy and operations, including: Countering terrorism policy and coordination Countering foreign interference Countering violent extremism programs Law enforcement policy and operations Immigration and migration, including: border security entry, stay and departure arrangements for non-citizens customs and border control other than quarantine and inspection Multicultural affairs Transport Security Cyber policy coordination Protective Services at Commonwealth establishments and diplomatic and consular premises in Australia Critical infrastructure protection co-ordination Commonwealth emergency management Natural disaster relief, recovery and mitigation policy and financial assistance including payments to the States and Territories and the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment

 

[Owen]

SMARTGATES ROLL OUT ACROSS TEN AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS​

10 October 2004

From today, holders of Australian ePassports and ePassport holders of certain foreign nationalities will be able to use SmartGates when entering and leaving Australia. They will be available at the following airports: Sydney-Kingsford Smith International Airport Melbourne-Tullamarine International Airport Brisbane International Airport Perth International Airport Adelaide International Airport Cairns International Airport Darwin International Airport Canberra International Airport Gold Coast-Coolangatta International Airport Melbourne-Avalon Airport SmartGates will allow those individuals to clear immigration controls more rapidly, and to enhance travel security by performing passport control checks electronically. The requirements will be as follows: Be aged 16 years or older for foreign passports Be aged 10 years or older for Australian passports Hold a valid biometric passport issued by one of the following jurisdictions or regions and to not be travelling on official military orders: Australia Argentina Austria Belgium Botswana Canada Chile China Colombia Denmark Ecuador France Fiji Finland Global Assembly Hong Kong Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Korea Luxembourg Macao Malaysia The Netherlands New Zealand Niger Nigeria Oman The Philippines Qatar Rwanda San Marino Singapore Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States ​