what are your legal rights on re-entering Australia?

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econgdon

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I recently went to China with 3 of my staff for 4 days for a trade expo. On returning we were all pulled aside in Sydney. We were separated and questioned about our movements in Shanghai at length. Any laptops were taken and the hard drive copied, any mobiles also had the hard drive copied. We had our tickets to the expo on us, but we still were grilled. We were all guys and the extent of our private relationships together were questioned. Including one young University graduate who was recruited who was asked how he got the job?? !!! Any piece of paper was photocopied including the travel diary of one young guy who had written it as his first overseas travel experience. Our mobile phones were taken and the contents downloaded. When all this was questioned, we were told that we were in control of customs. When I said that I resented giving the password to my laptop I was told that it would be kept for months until they cracked it, if i refused to do so. Does anyone have any legal rights when re-entering this country? Citizens or not?
 
For clarity - can you confirm if you were all oz citizens?
 
econgdon,

A little more info would help.

As simongr asks plus a few more:

  1. Are you all Oz citizens?
  2. Were you all travelling on Oz passports?
  3. How long were you away?
  4. Can you think of any reasons why Customs and Immigration would be concerned about you?
  5. Any other information that may make answering you initial query easier?
 
Having looked this up a few years ago, I realised you have very few rights when in 'no man's land' at the airport.

You might want to have a read through the Customs Act 1901 (Amended) for more information on what they can and can't do.

However - I don't believe anything they did in your case would be outside their rights.
 
Your legal rights on re-entering Australia:
  1. You have the right to stand in line for as long as Immigration can be bothered to leave half the desks closed.
  2. You have the right to discard half your legally purchased possesions just in case it falls foul of some hitherto unknown customs regulation
  3. You have the right to have an AQIS sniffer dog stick it's nose up your backside just as you bend over to pick up your bag, just in case there's an apple or orange concealed up there.
  4. You have the right to be made to feel like a criminal, just because you forgot you threw the one thousandth of an ounce of chocolate that the hotel left on your pillow the previous night in your bag.
  5. You have the right to have to try and ruin your eyesight when attempting to fill in that damned yellow customs/immigration form on the plane.
On a more serious note, I'm rather interested to find out about this one, seeing as I spend a good chunk of my time in Shanghai. I wonder if it was something specific about people having been in Shanghai that made them suspicious?
 
Last edited:
econgdon,

A little more info would help.

As simongr asks plus a few more:

  1. Are you all Oz citizens?
  2. Were you all travelling on Oz passports?
  3. How long were you away?
  4. Can you think of any reasons why Customs and Immigration would be concerned about you?
  5. Any other information that may make answering you initial query easier?

yes we were all aussies, We were in China 5 days The expo took 4 but Qantas cancelled our return flight ( another story) however two of us went to another expo in China 3 months earlier and two of us went to an expo in Europe 4 months previously which involved passing through Thailand and Turkey. We noticed that some of our checked luggage was opened on arriving in China this time, we were given a parcel to carry to China for a staff member to give to her family but nothing contra , just presents for her nieces and nephews, and we just left those with our hotel reception for them to collect. The more i tell people the more similar stories I hear. But who knows where the info collected ends up?? Take for example the info now discovered that was supposedly secret with Victoria Police. I think we should have the rights under FOI to be told why we are checked, but apparently we do not and also as in Scandanavian countries to have any info deleted if it is shown that no offence has been committed, but knowing craving of our authorities to accumulate info about anything.. I think that a far cry to expect !! It seems that when you are in No mans land before entering the country, that that you have very few legal rights IF ANY
 
I'm curious about them requesting passwords for the laptops. Were the computer hard drives encrypted ? If not then after copying the drives any passwords are unnecessary. If the authorities were really concerned, the last thing they would have done is powered up the system and logged into it.

Taking forensically sound copies of computer hard drives is not a quick job either. Of course my employer dosnt have the fastest equipment available but for any decent sized HDD I usually leave the copy going overnight. In other words, not the sort of thing one would normally expect them to do at the airport whilst detaining the OP's party for questioning.

The experience of the OP sounds more like the actions of another agency using the customs and immigration processes for convenience.

Richard.
 
Oh yes In the end I was told that I had not filled in the entry form correctly.. seems they found some antibiotics and my blood pressure tablets.. the are restricted items and as such MUST BE DECLARED on reentry. I was ticked off by the customs officer for not declaring them
 
Taking forensically sound copies of computer hard drives is not a quick job either. Of course my employer dosnt have the fastest equipment available but for any decent sized HDD I usually leave the copy going overnight. In other words, not the sort of thing one would normally expect them to do at the airport whilst detaining the OP's party for questioning.

Indeed it isn't a quick job - and it's something I know lots and lots about (including specific information that could be relevant to this thread, but can't really disclose it here)

I think in this case, the staff at the airport either used a tool that let them 'preview' the hard drives and quickly ascertain what they wanted or didn't want, or they did a quick and dirty 'boot' into the operating system and poked around.

Both can be used. As you imply, getting a forensically accurate copy of the drive would take > 3 hours depending on the size of the drive and the technology of the drive.

The Federal Govt has certain legislative power to get people to give up passwords, with jail time possible for not giving up the data. However, that isn't a power that Customs has (AFAIK) - but is something that other bodies have.

I think that's all I can really say without providing too much information.
 
I'm curious about them requesting passwords for the laptops. Were the computer hard drives encrypted ? If not then after copying the drives any passwords are unnecessary. If the authorities were really concerned, the last thing they would have done is powered up the system and logged into it.

Taking forensically sound copies of computer hard drives is not a quick job either. Of course my employer dosnt have the fastest equipment available but for any decent sized HDD I usually leave the copy going overnight. In other words, not the sort of thing one would normally expect them to do at the airport whilst detaining the OP's party for questioning.

The experience of the OP sounds more like the actions of another agency using the customs and immigration processes for convenience.

Richard.

the drives were encrypted and were Apple, so I think would have been hard to crack if at all possible, anyway the passwords were given, they actually missed some ipods so if we really had some files they were slack. Our local pharmac_ assistant ( in her 70's) told us that she went to Israel to play in an international lawn bowls tournament and returned via Prague ( if relevant and a diverse route) and got a full body search !! The more I tell my story, the more I hear about re-entry experiences. Yet none on entering other countries.
 
The more I tell my story, the more I hear about re-entry experiences. Yet none on entering other countries.

The U.S is well known for similar searches for both Citizens and Visitors. They often profile it on certain country visits and gender basis. You will also find that most Customs type agencies around the world are both equipped and legally allowed to do similar checks.

So it's definitely not a unique Australian welcome experience.
 
I think most people have some sort of personal or private information on their computers. Without a valid and stated reason, I think the copying of this information by government agencies at the airport would be in conflict with what our founding fathers would have envisaged when drafting the constitution. It seems that using hidden encryption software (where there is a completely hidden encrypted folder within a normal encrypted file) is going to be more and more necessary for ordinary travellers. You simply reveal the password for the normal encrypted file, whilst having your information in the hidden file within the normal file. There is free software available: Untitled
 
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How old are you, what were you wearing and what is your ethnic profile (from convict stock or more recent arrival?) What sort of hair cut do you have? Just interested in the sort of profiling that leads to this. I know when a couple of colleagues were travelling back from a recent company meeting in the Philippines the younger guy with the decent sized dark goatee got hassled much more than the older female he was travelling with, in Oz and abroad.
 
"What were you wearing??"
You may have pretty well hit it, I was wearing all leather, even trousers, as we are in the leather business and secondly I find that it takes minimum upkeep when traveling. It was taylor made fashionable stuff, not your motorcycle or fetish stuff, but that may be it. One of the guys said he noticed us being watched as soon as we got off the plane. There was nothing personal on my computer except maybe passwords in the keychain. So I have changed all those. Will just have to wait and see if it happens next time. Pity if it does as I don't want to spend 90 minutes every time I arrive back in Australia. Secondly, they seemed interested that I had been to Cambodia for 3 days and Ukraine also for 5 days, so it may be a pattern thing as well
 
Either you were picked based on intelligence (something to do with your baggage/ itinerary / length of staty / travel patterns or similar), a determination by the processing agent (ie raised some red flag when they were swiping the passport and doing chit chat), or when all passengers are closely monitored while waiting for luggage.

No rhyme or reason. Did they suggest what they were looking for? (In my case, I was basically told that they thought I was a drug trafficker).
 
I suspect the laptop search was looking for kiddy cough, especially as you had been to Cambodia etc. And in fact they've even shown scenes of similar laptop searches on Border Security, so it's no secret that they can and will do this.

As others have said though, there's no way they copied your hard disks in 90 minutes - a quick poke around is all they could have managed in that time.
 
I have a friend who works in Customs and will ask her next time I see her. She's been on Border Security interviewing a passenger so I would assume she kind of knows her stuff LOL

But for me, I always get picked up when arriving at any Australian airport. The instant I pass through immigration I always get tagged by some guy who pulls me aside and questions me!

I again got tagged again yesterday arriving into SYD - before I could finish the few steps after immigration to the baggage carousels - some dude pulls me aside. After telling the dude I just got in from a quick vacation in Hawaii he lets me go realising quick smart that a) I haven't been to South East Asia for a quick drug run.

Unfortunately I always get pulled over. I spend 70hrs in Singapore for NYE and spend literally more time in Australian customs than anywhere else. Why this? Why that? Where to? What for? la la la la la ......
 
I have heard that people that visit Thailand a lot get pulled aside and asked why there are so many Thai stamps in the passport!
 
Having looked this up a few years ago, I realised you have very few rights when in 'no man's land' at the airport.
And from my experience on getting secondary on return to Australia a few times we have no rights and as long as you have done nothing and have nothing to hide just play along and say nothing that may upset them.

A few years ago returning to BNE from BKK and SIN I was selected for secondary. While the "female" customs officer was going through my luggage including reading all my personal notes my mobile phone was taken away to another room by 2 customs officers. The mobile phone was switched on when they took it away and they brought it back to me swiitched off and asked me to switch it on and type in my password to unlock the sim. They then went away back to their room and after 10 or so minutes returned the mobile phone to me.

I did not appreciate the treatment especially going through my personal papers and my private sms'es and photos on the mobile phone but there is nothing I could do about it. The "female" customs officer asked personal questions that really did not concern her but I know she was just trying to trap me. Things like did you go out, and did you drink, and did you meet people. I think you get the general drift of the questioning being repeated over and over. She was very disappointed they could not find anything on me. I was delayed for over an hour and I missed my connecting flight to SYD.

It is not something to look forward to after travelling for close to 24 hours....
 
Well, as I posted a while back, I no longer tell the truth when returning to Australia.

A few years ago I was asked by one of those roving "go-get-em" youngish (he was over 30) male Customs officers where I had been. Stupidly I told the truth which was I had been round the world in a couple of weeks (all quite innocent), so he said I had to be "SSSS"'ed and took me away to a private interrogation area with a couple of lackeys, one male and one female (a young girl aged about 23).

I got the royal treatment, everything was triple checked, but, of course, nothing was found, as there was nothing to find. So I told these people that retribution would be on its way to them (there has to be some accountability) and as I was a retired senior federal public servant from DFAT, I did have a few contacts.

Anyway, I did make a formal complaint about the handling of the incident (the Customs people were very "rude") and received a written apology from the NSW Director of Customs (which I was always going to get).

Since then I have learnt my lesson and now never truthfully disclose where I have been (just lie through your teeth). I now mail all my private documents (passports from other countries are very useful) from overseas to trusted friends in Australia, so there is "NOTHING" to connect me to any overseas travel outside of the gateway cities, eg Hong kong, Singapore, Manila, etc, etc.

Works like a charm every time, but if Customs hadn't been so aggressive with me initially I would no doubt be more accommodating.
 
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