Australia’s Digital Incoming Passenger Card: What It Means for Your Trip Home

FlyingTravel

13 July

Updated July 2026

I've filled in that orange card more times than I can count. You know the one. The paper slip they hand out somewhere over the Indian Ocean, and you fill it in with a pen borrowed from the person in 42B, squinting at the "your address in Australia" box like you've forgotten where you live, because at that point in the flight you have.

And the question I always tick yes to is the food one. Because you don't leave Greece empty-handed. My bag going out weighs nothing. My bag coming home has olive oil in it, and my dad ringing to ask if I remembered the oregano.

Anyway. The orange card is on the way out. Australia is moving the incoming passenger card onto your phone, and if you're an Aussie doing the long haul back from Greece, it's worth knowing where that's up to before you book. Think of this as one more thing to sort alongside the rest of your planning for the trip home from Greece.

What is the digital incoming passenger card?

Quick answer: the Australia Travel Declaration (ATD) is the digital version of the orange paper Incoming Passenger Card. You fill it in on your phone before you fly instead of on paper mid-flight. Same customs and biosecurity questions, submitted up to 72 hours before you leave, and you get a QR code to show Border Force and biosecurity when you land. Same information. No borrowed pen.

It started tiny. One Qantas route, Auckland to Brisbane, back in October 2024. Since then more than 450,000 people have come through the Australian border on a digital-only card, and the government has been switching it on airport by airport ever since. The paper card still exists. For most people landing in Australia today it's still the one you'll get. But paper is the thing being wound down, slowly, in the background.

Who can use it right now?

This is the part the excited headlines skip. As of 26 May 2026, the ATD only runs on selected international Qantas flights into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Selected Qantas flights. Not every one, not other airlines, not yet.

Quick cheatsheet: can you use the ATD?

Airline: a qualifying Qantas international flight (not Emirates, Singapore, Etihad, and not a Qantas number that's really flown by someone else)
Arrival airport: Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne (Adelaide and Perth are expected before the end of 2026)
Age: 18 or older, and completing the declaration in English
On arrival: you're using the SmartGates and kiosks

Tick all four and you're paperless. Miss one and you get the orange card on the plane, which is fine. Nothing's broken. You just do it the old way, borrowed pen and all.

The plan from here, per the Australian Border Force, is Adelaide and Perth before the end of 2026, then a phased rollout to every Australian international airport and seaport across 2027 and into mid-2028. So the all-digital version is coming for everyone. It's just not everyone's reality in 2026.

How does it work?

Refreshingly boring, which is exactly what you want from a border form. You complete it in the Qantas app any time in the 72 hours before your flight. Some of it is pre-filled from your booking, so your name and flight are already sitting there. You do the rest: your Australian address, your emergency contact, the customs and biosecurity questions that have lived on the orange card forever.

Hit submit and a declaration pass with a QR code turns up in the Qantas app and in your email. The email comes from the Department of Home Affairs, so don't delete it thinking it's spam (I nearly did). When you land, you show that code to the Border Force and biosecurity officers instead of handing over a bit of paper. That's it.

Cycladic Spaces tip: do it in the lounge or at the gate, in Athens or wherever you're connecting, while you've still got wifi and a functioning brain. Your emergency contact and home address are a lot easier to type before 24 hours of flying than after.

What it means flying home from Greece

Here's where the "Australia goes digital" headlines can lead you up the garden path.

There's no direct flight between Greece and Australia. You're changing planes somewhere: Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Singapore. And it's the last leg into Australia that decides the card, not the whole trip. That leg has to be a qualifying Qantas flight into Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne. Fly the final sector on Emirates into Sydney, or Singapore Airlines into Adelaide, and the digital card isn't yours in 2026. Orange paper on descent, same as always.

So before you tell everyone you're going paperless on the way back from Santorini, look at your final flight. Which airline is operating it, and which city does it land in. Qantas into one of the three trial airports, you're in. Anything else, save your energy for the orange card.

What you still have to declare

Digital or paper, the biosecurity rules don't budge. And Greece is a place you leave heavier than you arrived. The olive oil, obviously. A jar of thyme honey from a stall on the side of a mountain road. Wild oregano, rígani, tied in a bundle and still smelling of the hillside. A little olive-wood bowl from a shop off Plaka. A tin of loukoumia. Whatever your yiayiá, or someone else's, pressed into your hands at the airport while refusing to say what it is.

Declare all of it. Food, honey, herbs, cheese, wooden things, they all go on the card. Declaring costs nothing and takes about ten seconds at the biosecurity point. Not declaring is where the fines are. The rule that's never let me down: if you're not sure it counts, tick yes and let the officer sort it out. The proper list of what to declare is on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry site, and it's a two-minute read before you go shopping.

What to sort before you fly

Get the Qantas app. Download it and log in before you leave home. No app, no ATD.
Check your last leg. Operating airline and arrival city are what count. Codeshares are the trap: a QF flight number flown by another airline may not qualify.
Fill it in on good wifi. Lounge, hotel on your last morning, wherever your signal is strong. You've got 72 hours, so don't save it for the plane.
Screenshot the QR code. So you're not digging through your inbox at passport control on no sleep.
Sort your biosecurity list. If the olive oil and the olive wood are coming home, know what you're declaring before you're at the red channel.

For anything border or safety related on the Greek end, Smartraveller's Greece page is the official first stop, and the current paper-card and eligibility details sit on the Australian Border Force Incoming Passenger Card page.

FAQ

Is the paper incoming passenger card gone?
Not in 2026. The orange card is still the default for most arrivals. The digital Australia Travel Declaration runs on selected Qantas flights into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with a national rollout planned across 2027 to mid-2028. If you're not eligible, you'll be handed paper on the plane.

Can I use the digital card flying home from Greece?
Only if your final leg into Australia is a qualifying Qantas flight into Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne. With no direct flights from Greece, it comes down to which airline flies your last sector and which city you land in. Any other airline means the paper card for now.

How far ahead can I complete it?
Up to 72 hours before your flight. You do it in the Qantas app and get a QR code pass by app and email once you submit.

Do I still have to declare food and olive oil from Greece?
Yes. The biosecurity rules are the same on paper or phone. Food, honey, herbs, cheese and wooden items all get declared. Declaring is free. Not declaring risks a fine.

What if I'm travelling with kids?
The ATD is for travellers 18 and over completing it in English, and it handles multi-passenger bookings, so a parent can include family members. If your situation doesn't fit, the paper card still covers everyone.

Does it cost anything?
No. The Australia Travel Declaration is free, same as the paper card. Ignore any third-party site offering to lodge an "Australian arrival card" for a fee.

The orange card is having its long goodbye, and one day the borrowed pen at 35,000 feet will be a story nobody younger believes. For now, in 2026, it all hangs on your last flight. Check the airline, check the city, download the app, and declare the honey. Do those and the border is the easy part of coming home. The hard part is explaining to your dad why you only brought back two litres of oil.