Is the Australian Landing Card Still Necessary in the Written Form?

[AustraliaPoochie]

Will probably try the digital IPC next time I come back from NZ via BNE.
Will look at esim with roaming, as an add on to my Aus sim on smartphone.

 

[anat0l]

Still it feels weird not to have to sit on the flight filling out the yellow card.

My last flight into AU was on CX. I sat in the second Y cabin and while I got an IPC, they ran out of them about 2 rows behind me. Since they hand them out starting at the first row of each cabin, about 40% of Y did not receive an IPC to fill in on the flight. Most would have had no choice but to collect one on arrival in SYD to fill out.

I was also surprised that they did not have any Chinese IPCs. The couple next to me had very poor English and were relying on a pocket translator to make sense of the card and especially the customs declaration questions. Now we could argue that if you can't read the IPC in English enough to fill it in correctly and truthfully, you don't deserve to come to Australia, but I guess a digital IPC could also help in this regard if it offered multiple languages, though in the case of the couple next to me, they were quite elderly, so chances of them being competent to use their smartphone, let alone use an app / website that would initially be in English, is also likely quite low.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

There would be ones (IPCs) in Mandarin, on the rows of it, in the arrivals zone, but new comers, or first time visitors wouldnt know about it, that they can fill it out later, of course, need a biro/pen.
But then, apart from the IPC, then there is the smartgate question, that one is in English only.
First you have to go to the shoulder high machine, which prints out a photo of/from your passport, on flimsy off white thin yellow paper... then to the machine that has the bright light to scan face...
But that couple would probably have gone to a staffed counter, and they would have gotten a Chinese (Mandarin) ABF speaker to converse with them.
But as they would have had their passport shown to check in at HKG, guess ABF would have known the couple was coming on the flight.

 

[clifford]

Now we could argue that if you can't read the IPC in English enough to fill it in correctly and truthfully, you don't deserve to come to Australia

I'm not sure who would argue that, but some entities come to mind.

 

[Beano]

My last flight into AU was on CX. I sat in the second Y cabin and while I got an IPC, they ran out of them about 2 rows behind me. Since they hand them out starting at the first row of each cabin, about 40% of Y did not receive an IPC to fill in on the flight. Most would have had no choice but to collect one on arrival in SYD to fill out.

I was also surprised that they did not have any Chinese IPCs. The couple next to me had very poor English and were relying on a pocket translator to make sense of the card and especially the customs declaration questions. Now we could argue that if you can't read the IPC in English enough to fill it in correctly and truthfully, you don't deserve to come to Australia, but I guess a digital IPC could also help in this regard if it offered multiple languages, though in the case of the couple next to me, they were quite elderly, so chances of them being competent to use their smartphone, let alone use an app / website that would initially be in English, is also likely quite low.

Define "elderly". Am I "elderly" at 70+? Fully up with smartphones, internet, digital IPC. Just wish there were more. My home is NZ so always fill out a digital one. I hear there is now AKL-SYD and SQN-SYD.. Why not WLG-SYD or even MEL?

 

[anat0l]

Define "elderly". Am I "elderly" at 70+? Fully up with smartphones, internet, digital IPC. Just wish there were more. My home is NZ so always fill out a digital one. I hear there is now AKL-SYD and SQN-SYD.. Why not WLG-SYD or even MEL?

Well, didn't mean to be ageist, so sorry. The couple I had spotted were not apt with technology as they were barely using their translator (it's one of those reworked smartphone inventions from China which has built in dictionary and a handy ability to take a photo of text to then translate it, however they were not using it very effectively). The kind of struggling they were having tends to be typical of your age group, i.e. you stand out amongst your similarly aged peers (and should be applauded for it - it shows that even in your generation you are adaptable to change).

I'm not sure one would accommodate passengers like those that were sitting next to me, unless you forced everyone flying to Australia to fill in an IPC that was verified at check-in (paper or electronic, i.e. scan barcode or something). That would hit the problem squarely before any trouble could arise after passengers boarded the aircraft taking them to Australia. Of course, if you then stock up on duty free, your declaration might then have to change anyway.....

 

[ausfox]

Google translate app will convert text to/from your selected languages. Simples. Oh, and i am rising 79.

 

[anat0l]

Google translate app will convert text to/from your selected languages. Simples. Oh, and i am rising 79.

Once again, most commendable that you are keeping with technology.

I wonder how well the customs questions translate via Google Translate, especially in offline mode. Remember that there are penalties for lying on the ICP (yes, you could argue to just tick 'yes' if not sure at all); I think wrong translations of the official English ICP are not acceptable excuses for false answers.

 

[AuSammy]

My last flight into AU was on CX. I sat in the second Y cabin and while I got an IPC, they ran out of them about 2 rows behind me. Since they hand them out starting at the first row of each cabin, about 40% of Y did not receive an IPC to fill in on the flight. Most would have had no choice but to collect one on arrival in SYD to fill out.

I was also surprised that they did not have any Chinese IPCs. The couple next to me had very poor English and were relying on a pocket translator to make sense of the card and especially the customs declaration questions. Now we could argue that if you can't read the IPC in English enough to fill it in correctly and truthfully, you don't deserve to come to Australia, but I guess a digital IPC could also help in this regard if it offered multiple languages, though in the case of the couple next to me, they were quite elderly, so chances of them being competent to use their smartphone, let alone use an app / website that would initially be in English, is also likely quite low.

…and I am a similar age as (now) King Charles III and while he will no doubt be exempt from such triviality, I am not, and easy cope with QR codes, digital arrival cards, and online applications for ETAs and such on my iPhone. Not currently employed as my last job was so boring I resigned last year.

Age is but a number.