New 'contactless' technology to be rolled out at Australia’s airports

Australia will soon roll out contactless technology at the airports that will process known travellers without a human interface, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has announced. The government has entered into a three-year contract worth $22.5 million for an upgraded biometric technology, enabling the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to use biometric data to clear passengers arriving at Australias international airports. A new facial recognition technology, to be delivered under this contract, will eventually let known travellers to self-process without producing their passport.

Aeroport Source: SBS

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said this technology would provide a seamless experience to travellers at the Australian airports whilst strengthening the security of the borders.

Australia is committed to being a world leader in the use of biometrics at our border to facilitate legitimate travel, protect our community and prevent the activities of potential terrorists and criminals, Mr Dutton said.

An average of 40 million passengers and crew are cleared through the border at Australian airports each year and this number expected to rise to 50 million by 2020.

Mr Dutton said the technology would improve efficiency and speed of border processing of travellers.

"The idea of this will be through new technology that is using facial recognition that in some cases if you've got a passport that can be read you won't even have to present the passport," he told the Seven Network.

"It will make it much quicker going through the immigration process."

This investment is part of the Governments broader $123.6 million investment in technological advancement at Australia's borders.