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Output 2

Facilitation of the legitimate movement of people across the border, while identifying illegal movements

This output covers processing of passengers, crew and craft arriving and departing Australia by sea or air, including identifying persons of interest consistent with immigration, health, family law and other law-enforcement, and national security requirements.

Also covered in this output is aerial and marine surveillance/response for specific operations related to illegal movement of people across the border.

Performance measures

Figure 15: Performance against targets set in the 2000-01 PBS - output 2


Quality/Quantity performance measures	Target*	Actual

Quality
Proportion of arriving international air passengers processed through the Entry Control Point within 30 minutes		95%	97%
Percentage of arriving passengers processed via Advance Passenger Clearance processes		45.00%	42.05%
Average number of seconds per arriving passenger at the Entry Control Point		Maximum of 40 seconds	43 seconds
Number of air passenger referrals	Immigration	**	176 597
	Health	**	3 699
Number of suspected unlawful non-citizens (SUNCs) intercepted by sea (including ships crew)	Non-crew	**	4 118
	Crew	**	176
Quantity
Number of international passengers	Arrivals	9 183 532	9 037 454
	Departures	9 012 820	8 921 462
Number of international crew (arrivals plus departures)^		1 547 000	1 712 536
Price		$69.935 m	$87.111 m

*	Targets may be performance targets, service level targets or workload estimates.
**	Performance targets cannot be estimated.
^	Measures and/or targets were changed in the PAES.

Performance assessment

Facilitation rates

A total of 17.8 million international air passengers (16.5 million in 1999-2000) were processed during 2000-01. Customs has a standard of processing 95 per cent of arriving international air passengers through the Entry Control Point within 30 minutes of their arrival. The Entry Control Point is the point where the passengers are subject to Customs and immigration formalities before legal entry to Australia. Of the 9.0 million arriving air passengers, 97 per cent were processed within this 30-minute standard. The results for major Australian international airports are shown in figure 16 below.

While the facilitation rate for some airports decreased, all major airports (see figure 16) met the 95 per cent target. The overall average facilitation rate for arriving passengers was 97 per cent (96.9 per cent in 1999-2000).

Figure 16: Proportion of international air passengers processed within 30 minutes of arrival, airport distribution (%)

	Figure 16 illustrates the percentage of incoming international arrivals cleared through the Entry Control Point (ECP) within 30 minutes. The formula used assumes a 10-minute delay between arrival and the time a passenger arrives at the ECP queue. The formula used was agreed with Government, together with a standard to clear 95 per cent of passengers within 30 minutes of arrival.
	Figures for Hobart airport, which have been included in previous annual reports, are not included, as it did not have any regular, scheduled, international commercial passenger flights during 2000-01.

Passenger processing before arrival

One initiative Customs uses to facilitate the clearance of passengers is processing before the arrival of the passenger, using Advance Passenger Processing (APP). This system is integrated with the Electronic Travel Authority system of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. It allows airlines to verify the travel authority of passengers at check-in and send high-integrity information to Customs and other border agencies using the ETA communication network. With APP, Customs is able to offer a more effective service delivery to passengers, airlines and industry.

A memorandum of understanding formalises the agreement between the Government and airlines taking part in the APP system. This memorandum is designed to create an environment of certainty and improved service delivery through an integrated, coordinated approach. The package of measures negotiated in the memorandum includes offering ‘express lane’ clearance to passengers using the APP integrated system.

Cathay Pacific Airways and Japan Airlines implemented APP in 2000-01, joining Qantas and Air New Zealand. Ansett continued to use Advance Passenger Clearance (APC), an earlier version of APP.

The number of APP and APC arriving international air passengers represented 42 per cent of total international air passenger arrivals during 2000-01 (compared with 33.6 per cent for 1999-2000).

Figure 17: Proportion of incoming international air passengers using the Advance Passenger Processing program (%)

*	March quarter 1998-99 data is incomplete due to technical problems with the Travel Immigration Processing System (TRIPS) database.
	Note: The Advance Passenger Clearance program commenced in September 1995. The Advance Passenger Processing program was implemented in April 1999 and is now the principal advance passenger information system.

PACE

The Passenger Analysis Clearance and Evaluation (PACE) computer system is used to process incoming and outgoing travellers at airports and seaports. The system performed well during 2000-01. In particular, there were no PACE outages during the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. System response times were maintained during peak Olympic passenger loadings.

A subsequent release of the PACE system during the year provided extended functionality and improved efficiency in processing travellers at seaports for both round trip and international cruise vessels. PACE removes the need for double handling and manual checks. This will improve border integrity and provide considerable resource savings, particularly during the height of the cruise ship season.

Illegal entrant activity

Further information on illegal entrant activity is provided under Output 3.

Prohibited goods found on people

Further information on drugs and other prohibited goods found on passengers and crew arriving and departing Australia is provided under Output 1.

Passenger Movement Charge

Further information on the Passenger Movement Charge is provided under Output 4.

MV Samson Explorer

The 2000-01 Budget contained funding relating to unauthorised arrivals in Australia.

This funding was to assist Customs to achieve output 2 through providing a dedicated vessel for transporting suspect unlawful non-citizens (SUNCs). This allowed Customs National Marine Unit and Royal Australian Navy vessels to undertake more appropriate surveillance and response taskings for output 3.

The MV Samson Explorer was contracted to perform this transport task. Between 8 September 2000 and 30 June 2001, the ferry made 25 trips, transporting 1898 suspect unlawful non-citizens and 45 crew members of suspect illegal entrant vessels from Ashmore Islands to the Australian mainland. SUNCs are usually taken to Darwin. This return trip usually took the Samson Explorer around five days. Customs staff supervised the transport of the SUNCs.

Staff also examined baggage and assisted DIMA staff with the documentation required for detention and further immigration processing. Customs also assisted the AFP through collecting evidence for possible prosecution of crew and organisers under anti-people smuggling legislation.

Vessel reporting

Customs began a small-craft targeting and reporting strategy (STARS) project in March 2000. The main aim of the project was to identify high-risk non-commercial vessels by:

improving the reporting regime
implementing a national targeting strategy
increasing resources of information on small craft
improving the liaison between Customs and other agencies, including international agencies, to obtain information and intelligence on small-craft movements.

The project built on existing good relations with Customs administrations in New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Guinea through improving exchanges of information on the small-craft movements in the Pacific.

An advance email reporting facility (yachtreport@customs.gov.au) was also developed, which is now used by many ships masters to report the arrival of their yachts. Receiving this information before the arrival of the vessel allows Customs and other border agencies to make appropriate arrangements for processing on arrival.

Customs has also initiated a commercial vessels reporting and targeting (COVERT) project. This is similar to STARS, but focuses on commercial vessels.

Shift reviews

The Sydney airport redevelopment project provided increased terminal capacity at the airport to meet forecast Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games traffic demand. After the Games, the extra capacity required revised scheduling for the northern summer season from 25 March 2001, shifting workload to the morning, with further concentration in the peak period up to 9am.

Shift rosters for airport staff were adjusted to improve the delivery of services to meet the new workload demand. Additionally, these rosters were aligned with AQIS rosters. The roster changes, which began on 10 May 2001, were agreed after extensive staff and union consultation. A comprehensive review of roster arrangements is planned during the next schedule season commencing in late October 2001.

Shift arrangements were also reviewed at Adelaide airport. A rotating seven-day shift roster began with the northern winter schedule in October 2000. The new arrangements allowed better resource allocation to operational demand, a healthier and safer work environment and greater flexibility, which has benefited both employees and management.

Visitor information campaign

Customs, in conjunction with other border agencies, conducted a visitor information campaign to advise visitors to the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games of Australia’s entry and exit requirements. While targeted at visitors to Australia for the Games, the information was also of benefit to other overseas travellers visiting Australia.

The campaign included a booklet, Internet site and video. These materials were translated into 22 languages, based on consultation with relevant Commonwealth agencies and advice from the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games regarding its language requirements.