The Aussie are so hardcore at Customs, they even attempted to capture the drama in a reality TV show called “Border Control“.

Why the Drama?

You see, Australia’s had a bad run of importing foreign material. In the past, it was thought ‘harmless’ to bring in certain comforts from ‘home shores’.

Anyone who’s been up North to Cairns (or read the Lonely Planet’s entry on this) knows about the Cane toads (who were brought in to kill the beetles who were killing the sugar cane–except they were on top of the cane and the frogs couldn’t get to them…) but there have also been ‘great ideas’  for the importing of rabbits, foxes, and a range of plants that have been detrimental to native Australian flora and fauna.

So, sure, we now know the extent of damage that can be done when native items from bacteria to mamals are moved between countries.

What’s it Matter to you?

Make sure you ‘dot your is and cross your ts’ when you come through Customs in Australia.

First of all, of course you have to plan for it to take you a bit of time to get through Customs–usually an hour to an hour and a half on top of your arrival time (depending on when you fly in).

On my new passport returned into Australia I had neglected to include my middle initial that was on my Visa. I was pulled aside. They were pretty cool about it, but I was warned to be a bit more careful.

Another time our boots were hosed down and cleaned (but that was actually kind of nice).

It’s not Thailand and you probably won’t have someone planting drugs on you (hopefully not anyway) but getting stopped is also not that uncommon. It would also really suck if you didn’t expect it and had people waiting on the other side.

All minor issues aside the real deal is this:

READ the signs! When they say, certain items aren’t allowed, they aren’t kidding. If you forget even a grape from your plane’s fruit salad, you can be charged with bringing in ‘fruit fly’ material. The penalties are severe; and it’s all too easy to forget about the apple stashed for a midnight snack.

(Ultimately, we all know it’s getting more strict everywhere. When I arrived in Canada the last time I was home, they sprayed us down while we waited on the tarmac before we were allowed to leave the plane.)

Regarding Mail:

Packages can be held up at Customs for ages too, especially if you are sending food across. You can avoid problems and defaulting delivery if you clearly describe the contents of the package.

Hot Tips – Liquids and Alcohol toting:

You can carry liquids in between domestic flights in Australia–any quantity, and this includes alcohol too. Travelling internationally, however, the same rules apply as in North America (except you usually don’t have to take off your shoes). You have to keep your liquids in bottles under 100 mL and they should be altogether in a sealed bag. You can’t even walk through with a bottle of water you bought in an Airport shop (seriously, I’ve been sent back to dump it out).

If you are going home to Canada and want to take some Australian wines (great idea!) you are allowed to carry 2 750 mLs bottles per person (plus other stuff, but that’s the alcohol allottment as far as I know).

Remember to always bubble-wrap glass (readily available at the Post Shop/Office).

The best thing to do is to be prepared and to be cooperative, of course.