Offence to book/travel using false name

[Hvr]

Changes to existing laws to crack down on organised criminals, including those who fly under false names, have passed the lower house.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon earlier this month introduced a legislative package to ensure commonwealth criminal law remained up to date and effective.
Organised criminals often fly under false names.
The bill will make it a crime to use a false identity to book a flight over the internet or to take commercial flights.
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It will also be a crime to use a false identity when identifying oneself for a flight.

Read more: Organised criminals to face tougher laws
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I really hope this doesn't mean identification checks at the airport. Or will we be required to have our photos on our FF cards?

I wonder how long until this changes how we fly?

 

[Mal]

Probably won't change anything. However like many other laws it can be used to snowball charges against someone or hold them for a period of time while they find other evidence.

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[JohnK]

Agree that most likely nothing will change.

But at the same time I see nothing wrong with having to provide identification each time you have to travel. It may deter some people from travelling.

 

[pshepvic]

I think that you absolutely should have to provide photo ID when traveling. Airline security in Australia is an absolute joke, and the fact that someone on a no fly list anywhere else in the world could board a flight here completely undetected is disgraceful. Whist I don't think we quite need TSA extremes, I do think photo ID should be required and that only people flying should be allowed past security in the terminal. Would make them less crowded, and the extra time to show ID to security would be offset by less people in the queue with non-travelers not allowed through.


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[medhead]

Back to the future on this, showing ID used to be a requirement for domestic travel.

As for no fly lists - they put Yousef Islam on one. Makes them inefficient at the very least.


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[Hvr]

I think that you absolutely should have to provide photo ID when traveling. Airline security in Australia is an absolute joke, and the fact that someone on a no fly list anywhere else in the world could board a flight here completely undetected is disgraceful. Whist I don't think we quite need TSA extremes, I do think photo ID should be required and that only people flying should be allowed past security in the terminal. Would make them less crowded, and the extra time to show ID to security would be offset by less people in the queue with non-travelers not allowed through.


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What does photo ID prove? You know a good forger?

The security screening in Australia to prevent weapons etc getting into the sterile area is enough.

No fly lists are random groups of names someone has collected and put together for their own nefarious purposes.

Surely the greatest crime in flying under a false name is missing out on the FF points?

 

[dajop]

I think that you absolutely should have to provide photo ID when traveling. Airline security in Australia is an absolute joke, and the fact that someone on a no fly list anywhere else in the world could board a flight here completely undetected is disgraceful. Whist I don't think we quite need TSA extremes, I do think photo ID should be required and that only people flying should be allowed past security in the terminal. Would make them less crowded, and the extra time to show ID to security would be offset by less people in the queue with non-travelers not allowed through.

Totally disagree. One of the pleasures of flying in Australia is the minimal fuss. Surely well resourced criminals can easily reproduce fake drivers licenses if they want to fly under a false name?

Where do you draw the line? What about trains passengers? No security. No ID checks. A few surveillance cameras, that's all. London and Madrid (and other) bombings did not happen on airlines.

 

[pshepvic]

Feel free to disagree all you want, it's not going to change my mind.

Photo ID these days include significantly more security features and are not that simple to forge. Yes it can be done, but I'm not saying the airline industry are the only ones who need to lift their game. I'd say bring in a national identity card too, but who knows where that would lead with the way people will jump down my throat around here...


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[pshepvic]

As for no fly lists - they put Yousef Islam on one. Makes them inefficient at the very least.

Should have been put on a no sing list....


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[medhead]

The reality is this measure is about policing criminals not airport/flight security.

Should have been put on a no sing list....

He put himself on that list. But I guess he needs the money after all.


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[anat0l]

One easy way to enforce ID checks - force the use of passports, even for domestic flights. Passports must be scanned in by a computer which will bring up the passenger's record (which means you can't use the fake passport which only appears to look real but doesn't operate correctly).

I'm sure this will not be a popular idea because it will naturally make the whole process much more coughbersome, and in this instance probably the most draconian process in the world, bar a few countries possibly. For example, someone who uses OLCI or NGCI and has no bags will still need some intervention at the airport before they can proceed to the gate, e.g. they must present themselves at a counter and someone must scan their passport, verify their details and record, then allow them to pass through to departures. It probably will also end the ability for non-travelling passengers to access airside. Also, domestic only flyers will obviously not be happy to carry and/or being forced to obtain a passport.

 

[medhead]

It also would be an incorrect application of a passport that has a solely purpose related to cross border travel.


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[anat0l]

It also would be an incorrect application of a passport that has a solely purpose related to cross border travel.

Does that run into legal problems if such a system were to be implemented for domestic-only travel?

You are right that the passport was designated for that purpose; that said, it does also serve as a general purpose (albeit, quite strong) identification item, not necessarily used for the purposes of cross-border travel.

 

[oz_mark]

One easy way to enforce ID checks - force the use of passports, even for domestic flights. Passports must be scanned in by a computer which will bring up the passenger's record (which means you can't use the fake passport which only appears to look real but doesn't operate correctly).

I dare say that there are any number of domestic passengers that for one reason or another don't have a passport. Requiring a passport for domestic travel is a bit OTT, IMHO

It also would be an incorrect application of a passport that has a solely purpose related to cross border travel.

You could also argue that the use of a drivers license as identification is an incorrect application of something issues to identify what you are licensed to drive...


Anyhoo, there doesn't seem to be anything in the new legislation that requires the airlines to police this.....

 

[anat0l]

I dare say that there are any number of domestic passengers that for one reason or another don't have a passport. Requiring a passport for domestic travel is a bit OTT, IMHO

Well they primarily don't have a passport because they don't need one, but yes some others don't have it for other reasons. That said, if the system required passports for domestic travel, the consequence would naturally be that many such people will not be able to fly, but boo hoo sob sob etc..... but that's one for the airlines lobby if anyone did suggest the idea.

I did allude to the fact that it may be OTT, but it does limit the number of possibilities to get around the system. (Not to say that practicality should be thrown out the window).

Anyhoo, there doesn't seem to be anything in the new legislation that requires the airlines to police this.....

Which is odd, since airlines could be implicated at fault (partially or wholly) if a fraudulent passenger travels successfully. Certainly if it ever hit the news and the airline is implicated, many people will immediately slam the airline for allowing such a passenger to slip through their fingers, so to speak, irrespective of an airline's systems and the legal obligation (or rather lack thereof) to account for such cases.

Mind you, the TSA practice in the USA of checking ID and stamping a BP to certify proof of identity at security checkpoints isn't exactly robust as much as it is more a security show. But notwithstanding check-in procedures, it does allay a lot of obligation off the airlines concerned.

 

[JohnPhelan]

As for no fly lists - they put Yousef Islam on one. Makes them inefficient at the very least.

They were scared he might sing ...............

 

[Archphoto]

Been showing ID for the past 4 years here in TH for domestic travel (Thai's need to show their ID card, I hand over my driver's licence) - no big deal; seriously, with all the cards we seem to hand over to fly, stay at hotels etc, is it really such an imposition to have to show some form of ID?

 

[mella2007]

With the days of online check in as well as kiosks in most airports around the world...many places don't check for ID. I can't see anything changing here in Australia at all...they claim security is tight, but seems pretty slack to me

 

[Hvr]

I dare say that there are any number of domestic passengers that for one reason or another don't have a passport. Requiring a passport for domestic travel is a bit OTT, IMHO



<snip>..

And what about when the government says you cannot have a domestic passport to travel? There are already Australians who have been refused an Australian passport for various reasons.

 

[Foreigner]

Surely the greatest crime in flying under a false name is missing out on the FF points?

On the other hand, I could imagine one travelling on another's behalf to earn the FF points for the latter. Possible?