What changed
Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport has become the first airport in Australia to offer the web-based version of the Australia Travel Declaration, the digital alternative to the paper incoming passenger card. Until now, the declaration was only available through the Qantas app on selected Qantas flights into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The web form went live for passengers on the airport’s first international flight, an Air New Zealand service from Auckland, on Monday 26 October 2026. If you don’t have a digital device, or would simply rather fill in a form by hand, the paper card is still available.
Who is affected
For now, the web form is only open to international travellers arriving at Western Sydney International in New South Wales, whichever airline they fly with. It’s an option, not a requirement, and it doesn’t yet cover arrivals at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport. The Government plans to roll it out to all international airports and seaports in phases over the next 12 to 18 months.
When it starts
The web form has been available at Western Sydney International since 26 October 2026. The Government has committed more than A$56 million over four years from 2026–27 to roll the web form out to every international airport and seaport, as part of a broader programme to modernise traveller processing.
What it means in practice
Travellers can fill in the web form starting up to 72 hours before their flight and will receive a single QR code to present when leaving the airport. This removes the need for a separate paper card for those who choose the digital route, consolidating travel and biosecurity questions into one step. Between 1 January and 30 September 2026, over 477,000 travellers had submitted the declaration across more than 8,400 eligible flights, with more than 118,000 of those including a biosecurity declaration.
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Source: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
