Facial recognition to replace passports for passengers entering Australia

The federal government of Australia is scheduled to spend AUD22.5 million over the next three years to implement facial recognition technology at international airports in Australia, doing away with the need for travellers to undergo a passport check when entering the country. Vision-Box Australia has been awarded the contract to initially deploy 105 new smart gates and more in the future as part of the government’s AUD123.6 million investment to hasten the flow of travellers. . CIO quotes the DIBP (Department of Immigration and Border Protection) as saying on 27 July that a world-class automated cum contactless traveller clearance process would be introduced for people arriving on Australia’s shores by air. Peter Dutton, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, said that the project was another move towards contactless processing and underpinned the Australian government’s commitment to protecting their country’s borders while providing travellers a smooth experience. Dutton added that their country is duty-bound to becoming a world leader in the biometrics use at their borders to smoothen legal travel, which protects their community and pre-empts any potential terrorist and criminals’ activities. He added that their investment in advanced cutting-edge biometric systems would continue to improve existing border automation initiative and improves further the efficiency and border processing of genuine travellers who comprise most of the people entering Australia. It is estimated that every year about 40 million passengers and crew check through the border at Australian airports and this number is expected to increase to 50 million by 2020. In addition, the government is said to be coming up with a National Facial Biometric Matching Capability. A key component of this system is an FVS (Face Verification Service), which lets the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Federal Police access citizenship and visa images which are with the DIBP. If you are looking to travel to Australia, get in touch with Y-Axis, a leading consultancy firm for immigration services, to apply for a visa.