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I am an Australian national who lives overseas and recently I was going through the airport going into Australia to visit. Turns out we have something similar g

I am an Australian national who lives overseas and recently I was going through the airport going into Australia to visit. Turns out we have something similar going on, but backed by law and without constitutional protection. I was told to hand over the passwords for my laptop and phone, lest they seize them "until they can be opened" (see: forever). This was a mind-bending experience for me and I was further interrogated since apparently I must have "something to hide" if I don't want to hand over passwords to my devices to just any person who works in an airport. They even started asking me things like "What are you doing in Australia?", "Who are you visiting?", "Where are you going?" (I am a citizen, it's absolutely no business of "Border Force" who I visit or where I go) and when I was abrasive about those questions they even asked "Have you been in trouble with the law in Australia?" At the end I did ask what the reason was for them searching me, their answer was simply that they don't need to have suspicion of anything specific.

RyJones 7y ago
If you want extra attention all over the world, keep your clothes in Pelican cases. Customs always thinks I'm bringing something in - just my clothes, thanks, take a look.
- m463 7y ago
  I imagine they don't x-ray well. Also, you probably get all kinds of attention from theives - they would expect camera equipment, not clothes. Of course, it would all lead to memorable international travel experiences!
  - RyJones 7y ago
    Customs at Basel airport was convinced I was hiding stuff I owed duty on Sure, if you owe duty on three weeks of dirty clothes?
  - sneak 7y ago
    They’re just plastic. They x-ray just fine.
    - m463 7y ago
      I was thinking of the aluminum ridged cases. Maybe I'm confusing it with another manufaturer.
      - sneak 7y ago
        Those are called Rimowa, and they also x-ray fine. :)
iliketosleep 7y ago
I've been to Australia a few times and was also surprised at this sort of thing. The words "don't need to have suspicion of anything specific" is code for "we have reason to suspect you're hiding something, we just aren't sure what it is". Not appearing to be cooperative further raises suspicions and will lead to more invasive searches/questions. If your goal is to get out of the situation ASAP and be subject to as few searches as possible, be friendly and cooperative. This doesn't mean I agree with how things are. It's clearly a blatant violation of basic rights, but you can't fight it at the border when you're being searched. Raising awareness and making it a political issue is the only way it can change.

RyJones 7y ago

If you want extra attention all over the world, keep your clothes in Pelican cases. Customs always thinks I'm bringing something in - just my clothes, thanks, take a look.

m463 7y ago
I imagine they don't x-ray well. Also, you probably get all kinds of attention from theives - they would expect camera equipment, not clothes. Of course, it would all lead to memorable international travel experiences!
- RyJones 7y ago
  Customs at Basel airport was convinced I was hiding stuff I owed duty on Sure, if you owe duty on three weeks of dirty clothes?
- sneak 7y ago
  They’re just plastic. They x-ray just fine.
  - m463 7y ago
    I was thinking of the aluminum ridged cases. Maybe I'm confusing it with another manufaturer.
    - sneak 7y ago
      Those are called Rimowa, and they also x-ray fine. :)

iliketosleep 7y ago

I've been to Australia a few times and was also surprised at this sort of thing. The words "don't need to have suspicion of anything specific" is code for "we have reason to suspect you're hiding something, we just aren't sure what it is". Not appearing to be cooperative further raises suspicions and will lead to more invasive searches/questions. If your goal is to get out of the situation ASAP and be subject to as few searches as possible, be friendly and cooperative. This doesn't mean I agree with how things are. It's clearly a blatant violation of basic rights, but you can't fight it at the border when you're being searched. Raising awareness and making it a political issue is the only way it can change.