DIBP prescreening all travellers exiting Australia

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has started running automatic advance security checks on all passengers exiting Australia.

The new Outward Advance Passenger Processing (APP) program uses a platform from border security and IT vendor SITA to conduct the automatic checks.

SITA's iBorders platform provides real-time integration between airlines' systems and the department's border management systems.

As part of new measures put in place by the government aimed at improving border security, airlines are required to provide data for all travellers leaving the country in advance of the flight.

This data is transmitted to the department during check-in, and the airline is given a board or no-board response message. Precleared passengers can self-process through passport control using the SmartGate in international airports.

As well as speeding up the departure process, the system will be used to screen for potential security threats ahead of departure.

The Outward APP program applies to all airlines and all flights out of Australia, and the system now processes around two million transactions from 47 airlines per month.

Image courtesy of Edward Lim under CC