Output 2 - Facilitation of the legitimate movement of people across the border, while identifying illegal movements
Identifying illegal movements
Pre-arrival screening of passengers
Customs increased access to flight and passenger information held in airline computer reservation and departure control systems from six airlines at the end of 2003–04 to 16 airlines in May 2005. Customs also has access to a further six airlines through a simplified version of the analysis software. Customs plans to connect to a further three airlines by the end of 2005.
The Passenger Analysis Unit analyses the information in cooperation with Customs operational units and other Commonwealth agencies to identify and refer high risk travellers arriving and departing Australia. Access to and analysis of airline reservation systems data is an integral component of Customs pre-arrival risk assessment capability.
In 2004–05, Customs made 126 requests for identity information under ss213A(3) or ss213B(2) of the Border Security Legislation Amendment Act 2002.
Adam Crosby, Customs officer from the air border security team at Brisbane Airport.
Customs teams – improving air border security
Customs plays an integral role at Australia’s international airports facilitating passengers and cargo into and out of the country, and monitoring and protecting the security of tarmacs around Australia. Brisbane Airport is one of Australia’s international airports that has a specialised team of officers dedicated to air border security.
Priorities are to prevent and detect the importing of illegal goods into the country through concealment on aircraft.
The team does this by gathering intelligence from local, interstate and international law enforcement agencies to ensure Customs resources are concentrated on risk assessed targets. By exchanging information with other agencies a broader view of concealment methods and trends is also obtained.
All air border security officers are certified in aircraft search through an intensive training course covering the theory, practical and safety issues of searching different types of aircraft. A 100 per cent aircraft search may involve the complete dismantling of various internal storage areas, including the toilet and kitchen facilities. Technology and tools used in these searches include portable video equipment, telescopic mirrors for searching inaccessible areas, narcotic detection and identification kits, closed circuit television surveillance and the Customs firearms and explosives detector dogs.
Aviation security
Anthony Clark, Compliance Assurance 4 team, Sydney, checking cargo at an aircraft.
An internal background paper about possible security risks that existed at Sydney Airport in 2003 attracted media attention in May 2005 due to its unintended publication. The paper was used as a guide by Customs officers working at the airport. Customs issued a statement outlining the status of the background paper, recent improvements Customs has undertaken in air border security and stated that where Customs identified criminal activity in the airport environment,it advised the responsible agencies.
Advance Passenger Processing enhancements
In January 2003, legislation was introduced making it mandatory for airlines serving Australia to provide the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) and Customs with information on all persons travelling to Australia.
Advance Passenger Processing was introduced in January 2004. Since then crew, transiting passengers and Special Purpose Visa holders have been processed with Advance Passenger Processing. The processing of persons entering by sea including passengers and crew of cruise ships were also processed under Advance Passenger Processing.
In a collaborative effort between Customs and DIMIA, in February 2005, the arrival processing of air crew was streamlined to allow them to be processed by passport number. This resulted in a significant reduction in the number of referrals to DIMIA for secondary checking.