Passport-free travel: it’s closer than you think

By Daisy Doctor


If you’ve ever lost your passport, you’ll know how much of a hassle it can be.

We once spent hours convincing an embassy worker that we were, in fact, the same person in the photo on our license, after weeks of travel that had left us DISHEVELLED, to say the least.

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Luckily, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says passport-free travel is “very close” now, with technology allowing Australians to walk straight from flight to car park without having to fish your passport.

Dutton told the National Press Club the process was already being tested in Canberra with a 90% success rate, reports News.com.

“I want them to walk seamlessly … off the A380 and — in time, and we’re not far off this — with facial recognition on the move, peoples’ passports will stay in their pocket,” Dutton said.

“They will walk from the plane out to the curb-side and depart the airport.”

Source: ABC

Source: ABC

A wide-ranging overhaul of visa system is in the works, which could mean a private company designing, installing and operating technology to monitor the whopping 8.5 million annual visa applications.

Dutton says the overhaul is needed, as the flow of applications has grown too big for human handling.

“I don’t have the staff, and never will, to provide the scrutiny that’s required that we can now deliver through technology,” he said.

“We’re probably maybe a generation, a technology generation, off it, so a couple of years.

“It’s very close indeed.”

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