Morag
Donaldson
The Government will provide $199.2 million over five years to
various government departments and law enforcement agencies to
enhance Australia’s aviation security regime.[1] The 2010–11 Budget contains
a number of measures aimed at improving passenger and air cargo
security which respond to current threat assessments, aviation
security policy (set out in the recent Aviation White Paper) and
recommendations made by the National Security Adviser following the
attempted terrorist attack in the United States on 25 December
2009.[2] Some
of the funded measures include:
- new technologies for passenger and air cargo screening at
international gateway airports (including an immediate increase in
the number of passengers subjected to explosive trace detection;
and the use of body scanners and multi-view x-ray machines)[3]
- passenger and checked baggage screening at more regional
airports
- increased firearms and explosives detector dog (FEDD)
capability at major international airports
- increased community policing presence by the Australian Federal
Police (AFP) at major airports
- increased bilateral/multilateral engagement and cooperation in
aviation security, and
- enhanced passenger assessment and clearance, particularly aimed
at detecting high-risk individuals seeking to travel to Australia
(using risk profiling and data-sharing by ‘intelligence,
border management and law enforcement agencies’).[4]
Provision has already been included in the forward estimates
for:
- continuing AFP aviation security commitments under the Unified
Policing Model at Australia’s 11 major airports,[5] and
- maintaining the Fraudulent Travel Document Detection System
(FTDDS) which is used by Australian Customs and Border Protection
officers at Australia’s international airports to verify the
travel documents of international travellers.[6]
For details of other border protection measures
funded in the Budget (including anti-people smuggling and
immigration issues) see the ‘Border protection and
detention’ section by Janet Phillips and Elibritt Karlsen in
this Budget Review.
[1]. Australian
Government, Budget measures: budget paper no. 2:
2010–11, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2010,
p. 99.
[2]. Australian Government, Flight Path to
the Future: National Aviation Policy White Paper, December
2009, viewed 12 May 2010, http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/nap/index.aspx
[3]. In the 2009–10 financial year, more
than 900 000 travellers were processed using the
‘SmartGate’ option at Australia’s international
airports. SmartGate is a self-serve computer system which
uses the data in an ePassport and face recognition technology to
perform the customs and immigration checks that are usually
conducted by a Customs and Border Protection officer. See
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service,
SmartGate, Customs website, 2 December 2009, viewed
12 May 2010, http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5552.asp
[4]. Australian Government, Budget
measures: budget paper no. 2: 2010–11, op. cit, pp.
99–100, and K Rudd MP (Prime Minister), A Albanese MP
(Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and
Local Government) and B O’Connor MP (Minister for Home
Affairs), Strengthening Aviation Security, media release,
9 February 2010, viewed 12 May 2010,
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressrel%2F3XUV6%22
See also (for example) J Kerin and R Bolton, ‘Biometrics
“promises faster aviation security”’,
Australian Financial Review, 4 May 2010, p. 36, viewed 12
May 2010,
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressclp%2F04LW6%22
and C Williams, ‘Tough task to achieve best balance in
aviation security’, The Canberra Times, 15 February
2010, p. 9, viewed 12 May 2010,
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressclp%2FU6WV6%22
.
[5]. The Unified Policing Model was developed
by the AFP in response to key recommendations in the 2005 Wheeler
Review of airport security and policing in Australia. It
‘enables a comprehensive and coordinated approach to
addressing criminality and terrorist threats in the aviation sector
and provides a unified policing presence at the 11 major Australian
airports’. For further details, see AFP,
Aviation, AFP website, no date, viewed 12 May 2010,
http://www.afp.gov.au/policing/aviation.aspx
[6]. Australian Government, Budget
measures: budget paper no. 2: 2010–11, op. cit., pp. 100
and 107. Note that the Attorney-General’s Department
has been separately funded in the forward estimates ($23.6 million
over four years) to provide ‘national leadership on identity
security policy’, including digital identity, cyber security,
and document verification: ibid., p. 108.
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