The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) today expressed confidence that biometric security systems needed to comply with new passport requirements for entry to the United States would be ready before the October deadline.
A media report quoting U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials suggested several so-called waiver countries were likely to miss the October 26 deadline to include extra security data on passports.
The report quoted departmental officials as saying the majority of the 27 countries -- most of which are European but also include Japan and Australia -- were unlikely to meet the deadline for the inclusion of biometric features, such as digital photographs or fingerprints, in all new passports.
A DFAT spokeswoman said Australian authorities such as DFAT and Customs have been working on the newly required facial biometrics feature.
She said the $6 million project was well advanced and DFAT was confident of meeting the deadline.
"If the feature doesn't meet the US requirements then no one's will because Australia is further advanced in this technology than most other countries," she said.
She said the requirements would apply to new passports issued on or after the deadline date of October 26. Passports issued before that date would not be affected, and neither would the visa-free status.
Some 15.1 million people entered the US under the visa waiver program last year, accounting for about two-thirds of spending by overseas visitors.
Australia's new high security passport, complete with floating kangaroos and the words to Waltzing Matilda, was unveiled in November.
The passport, which began being issued from December 1, was hailed as tamper-free by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. It was developed following the introduction of tougher proof-of-identity requirements last September.
The passport's new security features include line drawings of kangaroos - although some imagination is needed to recognise them as such - that hop across the identity page as it is moved.
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So the Paranoid States of America decide they need another layer of (false?) security and 27 countries must redesign their passports to accomodate it. Now whenever we go to any of the hundreds of countries worth visiting, we have to use a passport that was redesigned to meet the specifications of one country that is far too used to getting it's own way all the time.
It's not the added security that bothers me (although the biometric data will be available for abuse by the government of any country you set foot in) so much as the fact that Australia (and most/all the other countries) have simply said "Yes Sir" once again and let the US dictate another aspect of how we do things.