Travel

• Arrival and Departure
• State Aircraft Handling
• Baggage
• Immigration
• Quarantine
• Customs and Border Protection
• Aviation Security Screening

Arrival and Departure

A dedicated Liaison Officer will be allocated to each Head of Delegation and the Commonwealth Secretary-General. A Liaison Officer and a representative of the CHOGM 2011 Taskforce will meet delegations upon arrival into Perth and facilitate their entry.

State Aircraft Handling

Delegations arriving on State aircraft will be required to appoint a local Ground Handling Agent to arrange air clearances, unloading of hold baggage, parking, cleaning, refueling etc for their aircraft.

Delegations are responsible for arranging and funding all required aircraft handling at Perth Airport. A list of Ground Handling Agents based at Perth Airport can be found below:

•  Perth Airport Ground Handling Agents - PDF 40KB
•  Perth Airport Ground Handling Agents - DOC 60KB

Baggage

One delegation member accompanying the Head of Government will be asked to assist the CHOGM 2011 Taskforce representatives with the movement of baggage from the airport to the hotel on arrival, and from the hotel to the airport upon departure.

CHOGM 2011 baggage tags will be provided to delegates to assist with identification of baggage.

Immigration

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) manages the entry and stay of people from a whole-of-government perspective and works with other agencies to manage and secure Australia's borders. Under Australia's universal visa system, all visitors to Australia must have a valid visa to travel to and enter Australia.

DIAC will work jointly with other government agencies:

• to manage and secure Australia's borders; and
• to ensure risks are managed appropriately;
• to handle visa arrangements, including facilitating travel for guests of government and dignitaries.

For more information on travelling to Australia please visit the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website.

Quarantine

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is part of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and plays an essential role in maintaining Australia’s animal, plant and human health status. Quarantine controls at Australia’s border minimise the risk of introduction of exotic pests and diseases to protect Australia’s agriculture industries and environment.

At Australian international airports AQIS is responsible for the quarantine clearance of incoming aircraft, crew, cargo, passengers and their baggage.

All persons travelling to Australia on an international aircraft are required to complete an Incoming Passenger Card (IPC). The IPC contains a series of questions relating to goods being carried and places visited that must be answered. Passengers must tick YES if they are carrying any food, plant material, animal products or other items of quarantine concern.

AQIS uses a number of methods to clear passenger baggage including detector dogs, x-ray technology and physical inspection for hand and cabin bags and x-ray technology for hold luggage. The type of clearance is dependent on resource availability at the port of arrival.

Bags identified as containing items of quarantine concern must be inspected by AQIS in the presence of the owner or an authorised representative.

Should an item present a quarantine risk, AQIS will discuss options available with the passenger or authorised representative.

For information on what goods can or cannot be brought into Australia go to the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service website, or our Import Conditions database (ICON). This database lists the Quarantine conditions under which various commodities may be brought into Australia.

Yellow fever is a quarantinable disease in Australia. People arriving in Australia who are one year of age or older must hold an international vaccination certificate if, within six days before arriving in Australia, they have stayed overnight or longer in a yellow fever declared country. Australia’s list of yellow fever declared countries includes 45 countries in Africa, South/Central America and the Caribbean. For further information including a list of yellow fever declared countries, please go to the Department of Health website.

Customs and Border Protection

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service protects the safety, security and commercial interests of Australians by managing the security and integrity of Australia's borders. It works closely with other government and international agencies, in particular the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Department of Defence, to detect and deter unlawful movement of goods and people across the border.

Protecting the Australian community through the interception of illegal drugs and firearms is a high priority. Sophisticated techniques, which include intelligence analysis, computer-based analysis and detector dogs, are used to target high-risk aircraft, vessels, cargo, postal items and travellers.

Travellers must declare all drugs, medicines and any prohibited or restricted goods such as firearms, ammunition and currency in excess of AUD 10,000. Further information can be found on the Customs website.

Aviation Security Screening

To comply with Australian Government regulations, any liquids, aerosols or gels, such as drinks, creams, perfumes or toothpaste, which passengers wish to take on board in their carry-on luggage must be in containers of 100 millilitres or less, and all containers should fit comfortably in a transparent, resealable plastic bag with a volume of one litre or less.

All delegation members, including Heads of Government, their spouses and ministers, are expected to comply with the carry-on restrictions for liquids, aerosols and gels.

For more information on inbound travel restrictions visit Travel Secure website.