While entering Australia, you must comply with the entry and import regulations. Learn about the documents you need and which goods you should not pack in your suitcase under any circumstances.
To enter Australia, you must present some documents to the border officials at the airport. These include:
Depending on your personal case, you may also be required to provide the following documents:
If you are traveling to Australia with minors, be prepared for more stringent border controls designed to protect children. For your joint trip, have proof of parenthood or custody, copies of birth certificates and (if applicable) adoption papers, letters of authority and/or consent from all legal guardians, and a consent form from the child traveling (the child's signature is sufficient here).
Whether or not you are allowed to enter Australia depends on the completeness and accuracy of your travel documents and the personal impression you leave with the border officials. The following criteria are included in the decision on your eligibility for entry:
If, after a brief interview and presentation of your documents, the border officials deem you fit, you will be allowed to enter Australia.
Before crossing the border into Australia, you will need to fill out some forms that help the Australian government manage its customs, quarantine, and security affairs. The entry requirements for Australia specify the following data collections:
When crossing the border, you must hand in the completed "Incoming Passenger Card" (IPC) on which you have entered the following data:
The Incoming Passenger Card also asks about goods you are carrying that are subject to declaration. These include food, plant and animal products, medical devices, and certain everyday items such as down pillows, outdoor equipment, lighters, wooden items, or laser pointers.
Follow the instructions on the card carefully and rather declare too many goods than too few because there are severe penalties for violating the import regulations.
Apart from the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for all international travelers, vaccination against yellow fever is mandatory in Australia if you have been in a yellow fever area for more than 12 hours prior to entry.
In addition, it is recommended to have all standard childhood vaccinations, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal disease (ACWY) vaccinations.
There are no mandatory insurances for traveling to Australia. However, we recommend that you purchase travel health insurance to protect yourself from high financial burdens in the event of an emergency.
If you want to take certain foodstuffs, luxury goods, plants, higher sums of money, or medicine with you to Australia, you must declare them. Even the import of camping and sports equipment is strictly regulated.
You are allowed to bring duty-free goods worth 900 Australian dollars, 2.25 liters of alcoholic beverages, and 25 cigarettes (or 25 grams of tobacco) into Australia. For children, the limit is 450 Australian dollars instead of 900.
If you are traveling as a family from the same household, you can add up your duty-free goods per head and go through customs together.
The import of foreign and local currency is unlimited but must be declared if the value exceeds 10,000 Australian Dollars.
You must be very careful, especially when bringing food and plants (including wood products and cosmetics) on your way to Australia. Follow the import regulations in place very closely.
| Entry to Australia: allowed goods | |
|---|---|
| Cookies, bread, cakes, pastries | Only for personal consumption, if the products can be stored unrefrigerated, do not contain meat, and if all ingredients are baked thoroughly |
| Chocolate and confectionery | Up to 10 kg if the goods are commercially prepared and packaged and do not contain meat |
| Coffee | 10 kg if the coffee is roasted / 5 kg of green coffee beans if the coffee is clean and repackaged / 1 kg of Kopi Luwak/Civet coffee if the beans are roasted and commercially packaged. Caution: Green coffee needs a health certificate! |
| Cosmetics | 10 kg or 10 l for personal use if the products are commercially produced and packaged |
| Beverages | Fruit and vegetable juices in hermetically sealed metal cans, jars, bottles, or plastic containers, if commercially prepared, packaged, and kept unrefrigerated |
| Snacks and spreads | Maple syrup, golden syrup, potato chips, vegemite, promite, marmite, cheesymite, Nutella, or peanut butter for personal use |
| Entry to Australia: prohibited goods | |
|---|---|
| Weapons | Pepper spray, automatic knives, butterfly knives, blowguns, concealed blades, daggers, electric firearms, extendable batons, knuckle dusters, nunchucks, throwing knives, stun guns (import permits are issued for police/government purposes only) |
| Food from the plane/ship | You may not bring food into Australia from an airplane or ship. |
| Live plants | Only with import permits issued by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. |
| Fake designer goods | Counterfeit designer items, branded goods, and copyrighted goods (e.g., clothing, handbags, cosmetics, electrical goods) are not allowed. |
| Fireworks | Fireworks may not be transported in the cabin or cargo hold. |
| Entry to Australia: goods that need to be declared | |
|---|---|
| Honey and honey products | Quarantine requirements may apply (especially in Western Australia) |
| Dairy products | 10 kg or 10 l for personal consumption if products are commercially prepared and packaged and originate from an FMD-free country |
| Meat and fish products | Commercially prepared, packaged in hermetically sealed cans, jars, or pouches, and kept unrefrigerated |
| Seeds | Approved species according to BICON, commercially packaged with the full botanical name (genus and species) and free of live insects, soil, and disease symptoms |
| Tea | Plain black or green tea (including flavored) in clean and new, unopened packages / Herbal tea, commercially prepared, packed, and labeled, completely dried up to 1 kg |
| Medicines | With doctor's letter, prescription copy, and original packaging for personal use (quantity for maximum three months) |
| Knives and swords | Fixed blade knives, samurai swords, multi-tool knives, slingshots, swords, and bayonets |
| Animal horns, teeth, and bones | Products must be clean and not from endangered or protected species |
| Beeswax | Products for personal use, free of insects, seeds, or other contaminants |
| Feathers | Up to 10 items (including down in blankets, jackets, sleeping bags, pillows) for personal use |
| Outdoor equipment | Equipment (e.g., fishing gear, camping gear, or water sports gear) must be clean and dry. |
| Fur and leather | 110 items for personal use, fully tanned or free of fabric and contaminants |
| Lighters | Up to five disposable or refillable lighters used to light cigarettes, cigars, and pipes |
| Shells, sand, stones, fossils | Allowed if free of contaminants Exception: oyster shells may not be imported into Australia. |
| Wood and wood products | Free of bark, insects, and signs of insect damage or other contamination |
For a complete list of Australia's import regulations for food, products, and animals, visit the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment website.