🇦🇺 Australia Customs Guide
What customs allows you to bring into Australia — duty-free caps, banned and restricted goods, and medication rules, from official sources.
Fully verified · Authority: Australian Border Force · Last verified
Every section below carries verbatim quotes from official customs sources captured on the verification date.
Two different questions. Airport security screening (TSA/CATSA — can it go through the checkpoint?) is separate from customs (may it enter the country at all?). This page covers customs after arrival in Australia; for checkpoint rules, see the item guides.
Duty-free allowances
General goods AUD 900 per adult / AUD 450 per child; families on the same flight may pool concessions. Alcohol 2.25 litres. Tobacco: 25 cigarettes OR 25 g tobacco (Australia’s post-2017 tight cap — far below most countries).
“adults - AUD900, kids - AUD450, Alcohol - 2.25 litres, Tobacco - 25 cigarettes or 25g tobacco.”
Prohibited & restricted goods
Permission-required and prohibited classes exist on the ABF “Can you bring it in” master page (weapons, illicit drugs, protected wildlife, etc.); category-level verbatim pending because the medicines/substances category page is JS-rendered. Biosecurity (declare-or-penalty for food/plant/animal goods) is the highest-impact rule for this destination — agriculture.gov.au ingest pending.
“When you’re travelling overseas or importing items, you need to know that some items can’t be brought back with you and for others you need to get permission.”
“Declare it: When travelling to Australia you will be provided with an Incoming Passenger Card by the crew on your aircraft or cruise vessel. This is a legal document. You must mark YES on your card to declare if you are carrying certain food, plant material or animal products. — Department of Agriculture, agriculture.gov.au”
“Wooden items are allowed into Australia if they are free from bark, insects and signs of insect damage (such as borer holes).”
Medication & prescription drugs
Traveller’s exemption: up to 3-month supply per medicine incl. controlled substances, for you or an immediate family member travelling with you; valid prescription/authorisation required; medicine must be legal in departure country. Medicinal cannabis separately capped (3-month, not for vape use).
“If you are travelling to Australia from overseas, the traveller’s exemption allows you to carry up to a three month supply of a medicine, including controlled substances. The medicine must be for your own personal use, or use by an immediate family member travelling with you. You will need to carry a valid prescription or authorisation for the medicine, and the medicine must also be legal in the country you are travelling from.”
“If you are travelling to Australia from overseas, the traveller's exemption allows you to carry up to a three month supply of a medicine, including controlled substances. The medicine must be for your own personal use, or use by an immediate family member travelling with you.”
“You can only import a 3 month supply in one order, and no more than 15 months of supply over a 12 month period. You must keep imported medicines in their packaging with any labels intact when importing.”
Still being verified — nothing guessed
Accuracy beats completeness here. The following are confirmed gaps in our verified coverage for Australia; each line names the official source we are re-checking, not a third-party answer:
- Pending ABF weapons category page verbatim (TGA medicines + biosecurity resolved 2026-08-04; weapons page still returns a JS shell)
Australia customs FAQs
What is the duty-free allowance for Australia?
General goods AUD 900 per adult / AUD 450 per child; families on the same flight may pool concessions.
What items are prohibited or restricted at Australia customs?
Permission-required and prohibited classes exist on the ABF “Can you bring it in” master page (weapons, illicit drugs, protected wildlife, etc.); category-level verbatim pending because the medicines/substances category page is JS-rendered. Biosecurity (declare-or-penalty for food/plant/animal goods) is the highest-impact rule for this destination — agriculture.gov.au ingest pending.
Can I bring medication into Australia?
Traveller’s exemption: up to 3-month supply per medicine incl. controlled substances, for you or an immediate family member travelling with you; valid prescription/authorisation required; medicine must be legal in departure country. Medicinal cannabis separately capped (3-month, not for vape use).
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