Australia wants to replace passports with biometrics by 2020

Secure documents could be replaced with biometric security for almost all Australian citizens as early as 2020, under plans announced by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.The country will begin trials of a combination of fingerprint, face and iris scanning at next generation egates this year, according to officials.The vision is for a "contactless", self-processing system that would do away with the need for travellers to show their physical passports.Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has said the aim is for more than 90 percent of passengers to avoid paperwork or manual processing by staff by 2020."In many cases that will mean people, whilst they'll still have to carry their passport, may not have to present their passport at all in the long term," Dutton said on Sunday. "But in the immediate term, this will make it easier; it will make it quicker, for people going in and out of our airports."The biometric system will be used to identify and process international travellers at airports and other entry and exit points. It is part of a so-called Seamless Traveller Initiative the country is putting into action at a cost of almost 100 million Australian dollars (US$75 million).The scheme will also see the government replace the SmartGates currently in use at airports, with the biometric processing that replaces it set to be a "world first".The first trial of the technology in July at Canberra Airport, with early plans suggesting it could then be introduced in Sydney and Melbourne in November.The hope is that freeing up immigration staff at airports will enable them to focus on any passengers of interest rather than manning passport gates.

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