Canberra Airport first Australian airport to trial SmartGate border technology

Canberra Airport announced it will trial new "contactless" SmartGate border technology which scans faces instead of passports (Canberra Times, 29-Nov-2017). Trials of the technology are set to begin in Mar-2018, ahead of a planned rollout across the rest of Australia. Four new SmartGate machines will be trialled at the international arrivals area in Canberra, using biometric facial scans to identify passengers. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said: "The SmartGates will allow, in time, people to walk through them with their passport in the pocket but without having to present it".