Quick summary
Australia’s Arrivals SmartGates now accept any valid passport, not just e-passports, under a trial that began on 17 June 2025. You must be at least 7 years old and 1.1 m tall; children aged 7 to 15 need a parent or legal guardian who answers the kiosk questions. US and Canadian passport holders still need an ETA (subclass 601), AUD20 through the official app.
SmartGate clears the border, not the entry requirement: visas, biosecurity and customs rules are unchanged, and officers can still pull you aside after the gate. Here is who qualifies, where the gates run, and what Sydney’s kiosk build-out changed.
- Who can actually use Australia’s SmartGate now?
- US and Canadian passport holders: what to arrange before the airport
- The two-step kiosk-to-gate flow and where it operates
- Sydney capacity changes and the 2026 expansion
- After the gate: digital declaration and follow-up checks
- What to fix in the final three days
Until 17 June 2025, arrival SmartGates were restricted by nationality and to e-passports, and the minimum age was 16. The June 2025 change opened the arrivals lane to any valid passport, including one without a chip.
On 27 September 2026, the Australian Border Force rule set was still the one published after that change. A US, Canadian, UK, European, Australian or New Zealand passport holder now faces the same test at the kiosk.
The automated lane has changed. The paperwork behind it has not.
Who can actually use Australia’s SmartGate now?
The arrivals test is short. You need a valid passport, a minimum age of 7 and a minimum height of 1.1 m. Anyone aged 7 to 15 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and that adult answers the kiosk questions on the child’s behalf. The Australian Border Force list of who can use Arrivals SmartGates sets out those conditions.
The Border Force removed nationality from the arrivals rule and lowered the age to 7 in the week of 17 June 2025. This is a trial, not a permanent rule.
Height markers at the kiosk bank show the threshold. The kiosk screens display instructions in 22 languages. If two adults are travelling with a child, the Border Force sequence is guardian one, then the child, then guardian two. That keeps the group together through the gate.
Travellers using a self-propelled wheelchair can use the Arrivals SmartGates. If the gate does not work, a companion can assist at the Airline Assisted manual border control desk.
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US and Canadian passport holders: what to arrange before the airport
SmartGate eligibility is not entry permission.
US and Canadian passport holders still need an ETA (subclass 601) before boarding, applied for through the official Australian ETA app at an AUD20 service charge. There is no separate visa application charge. The grant lasts 12 months from issue or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and allows multiple entries with stays of up to three months at a time. Canada is not on the eVisitor list, so the ETA is the route for Canadian passports.
The ETA is linked digitally to the passport named in the application, and entry must be made with that same passport. Guidance updated in August 2026 states the consequence plainly: passport details that do not match the visa grant can cause check-in delays or refusal at the border. A passport renewed abroad may need the visa record updated before travel.
A layover can create the same obligation. A connection through Australia that involves leaving the transit area, collecting bags or a longer stop can fall under the rules described in when an Australian layover legally requires an ETA.
The two-step kiosk-to-gate flow and where it operates
Australia smart gates are branded SmartGates, and the arrivals version has two steps: a kiosk first, then a gate. At the kiosk, travellers insert their passport, confirm their details on a touchscreen and take the printed ticket. At the gate, facial recognition compares the live image with the passport photo; if it matches, the doors open. Travellers walk past the kiosk step because the bank sits before the main immigration hall.
SmartGates run at ten Australian international airports: Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Avalon, which handles departures only. Arrival kiosks are installed at Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Sydney airport passport control is therefore one of four arrival kiosk locations, not the only one.
The gate is a border-clearance step. It does not replace the visa, biosecurity or customs formalities.
Sydney capacity changes and the 2026 expansion
Sydney Airport Terminal 1 gained eight SmartGate kiosks in May 2025, adding 640 passengers an hour of processing capacity. They were the first instalment of a 40-kiosk programme. The remainder were scheduled for installation by mid-2026, according to the Border Force announcement on the Sydney rollout.
The published clearance figure predates those kiosks.
Sydney Airport’s operational reporting for the first quarter of 2025 found that 90% of eligible travellers cleared SmartGate in under 36 minutes. That is the only published clearance figure attached to this system.
The added capacity works out at roughly 80 passengers an hour per kiosk. That matters when several widebody arrivals land inside the same hour, because every traveller must clear a kiosk before reaching a gate.
After the gate: digital declaration and follow-up checks
The paper Incoming Passenger Card is being replaced on some routes. The digital declaration pilot, run with Qantas, started on Brisbane flights in October 2024, added Sydney in August 2025 and Melbourne in May 2026. Eligible travellers show a QR code at the border. More than 380,000 digital submissions had been processed by May 2026.
One health declaration can be made at the kiosk itself. Travellers vaccinated against yellow fever more than ten days before travel, who carry a valid vaccination certificate, can self-declare that status through the Arrivals SmartGate questions rather than at a counter.
Automated clearance does not end the process. Border and biosecurity officers can still question travellers after the gate, and the digital declaration feeds the same checks.
What to fix in the final three days
The digital declaration can be lodged up to 72 hours before travel. That makes the last three days the practical window for everything that can still go wrong.
- Match the documents — check every traveller’s ETA against the exact passport they will carry, and that each passport covers the whole trip. Apply through the official Australian ETA app before departure and carry that same passport to the kiosk; if departure is inside 72 hours, apply anyway.
- Measure the children against the 1.1 m arrival requirement and confirm everyone is 7 or older; a child below either threshold goes to the staffed counter with a guardian. Check the Border Force arrivals eligibility list before you fly.
- File the declaration if you are flying Qantas into Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, and screenshot the QR code before you lose signal. Keep the QR code and your ETA confirmation reachable on your phone until you are past the exit.
- Watch: whether the Border Force makes the non-ePassport arrivals trial permanent, and whether the remaining Sydney kiosks are confirmed live.
For a connection that involves leaving the transit area, collecting bags or a longer stop, see the Australian layover ETA guidance before you book the itinerary. If your itinerary ends with a domestic leg, plan for the staffed counter instead.
These preparations cost nothing beyond the app charge and are settled before the kiosk bank. A passport that does not match the ETA attached to it is the one thing you cannot fix at the airport.
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Questions? Answers.
Which Australian airports have SmartGate for North Americans?
Ten international airports run SmartGates: Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Avalon, which handles departures only. Arrival kiosks are installed at Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Hobart, which older guides list, is not among them, and nationality does not decide access under the arrivals trial.
Do Canadians need Global Entry to use SmartGate?
No. Global Entry, NEXUS and other trusted traveller programmes play no part in SmartGate eligibility, and the arrivals trial is not nationality-based. What matters is a valid passport, being at least 7 years old and 1.1 m tall, and for children aged 7 to 15, an accompanying parent or legal guardian.
What happens if SmartGate rejects me at the facial recognition gate?
The gate stays closed and you are directed to a staffed counter, where an officer verifies your identity manually. There is no second attempt at the same gate. Keep your ETA confirmation and return ticket accessible so the manual check moves quickly.
Can I use SmartGate when departing Australia?
Yes. The smart gate Australia runs on departure accepts any valid machine-readable passport, provided you can use the gate independently. The arrival conditions — the 7-year minimum, the 1.1 m height and the guardian requirement for under-16s — apply to the arrival lane, not to departure.
Can children use SmartGate?
Children aged 7 and over can use Arrivals SmartGates if they are at least 1.1 m tall and accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, who answers the kiosk questions on their behalf. A child who misses either threshold uses the staffed counter with their guardian instead.
What is changing with SmartGate in 2026?
Sydney Airport’s kiosk programme adds 40 kiosks in total, with the first eight live since May 2025 and the remainder scheduled by mid-2026. Separately, the digital Incoming Passenger Card pilot had processed more than 380,000 submissions by May 2026, on Qantas flights into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
