Phone SeizedAustraliaCan Border Force search my phone, and must I unlock it?
Can Border Force search my phone, and must I unlock it?
What you must do, what you can refuse, and what they can do
Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.
You can refuse
No penalty for saying no.
You do not have to give a Border Force officer your device passcode or otherwise help them get into it — the ABF itself says there is no legal compulsion to do so.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Additional Estimates, ABF answer AE22-050 (14 Feb 2022) — no legal compulsion
“There is no legal compulsion for a traveller to provide a password/passcode or provide assistance to an electronic device at the border.”
Read it at aph.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
Lawful to refuse — but it costs you
Not an offence, but it carries a penalty or an inference.
If you refuse to provide a passcode or assistance and an officer considers there is a risk to the border, the officer is authorised to seize your device for further examination before it is returned.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Additional Estimates, ABF answer AE22-050 (14 Feb 2022) — consequence of refusal
“If an individual refuses to comply with a request or provide a password for an examination of their electronic device, and an ABF officer considers there to be a risk to the border, the ABF officer is authorised to seize that device for further examination prior to being returned.”
Read it at aph.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
What they can do
A power the law gives them over you or your device.
Any officer may examine goods subject to customs control — including your phone — and the cost of that examination, including any removal to the place of examination, is borne by you as the owner.
Customs Act 1901 (Cth), s.186(1) — general power to examine goods (Compilation No. 192, 5 Sep 2026)
“Any officer may, subject to subsections (2) and (3), examine any goods subject to customs control, and the expense of the examination including the cost of removal to the place of examination shall be borne by the owner.”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
If your device is examined, an officer may make a copy of, or take an extract from, any document examined, or arrange for another Customs officer or suitably experienced person to do so.
Customs Act 1901 (Cth), s.186A(1) — power to copy documents and data (Compilation No. 192, 5 Sep 2026)
“a document is examined under section 186 or 186AA; and—the officer of Customs may make a copy of, or take an extract from, the document, or arrange for another officer of Customs or other person having the necessary experience, to make such a copy or take such an extract.”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
Limits on them
A rule that constrains them, or a remedy you can use.
Current ABF policy is to retain a seized device for examination no longer than 14 days, unless it is reasonable that the examination will take longer or content is found that makes the device subject to seizure.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Additional Estimates, ABF answer AE22-050 (14 Feb 2022) — retention policy
“Current ABF policy is to retain electronic devices held for examination for no longer than 14 days, unless it is reasonable that the examination will take longer or content is located on the device that renders the device subject to seizure.”
Read it at aph.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
The ABF says it does not alter or delete any data on your device as a result of examining it under the Customs Act or the Migration Act.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Additional Estimates, ABF answer AE22-050 (14 Feb 2022) — data not altered or deleted
“The ABF does not alter or delete any data as a result of an examination of a device under the Customs or Migration acts.”
Read it at aph.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
Data copied from your device can only be shared depending on the type of information and the specific legislation that applies to it, such as Part 6 of the Australian Border Force Act, the Privacy Act or the Migration Act.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Additional Estimates, ABF answer AE22-050 (14 Feb 2022) — sharing copied data
“Copied data can only be shared depending on the type of information and the specific legislation that applies to that type of information, such as Part 6 of the Australian Border Force Act, Privacy Act or Migration Act.”
Read it at aph.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
Two different questions, one Commonwealth law
This page is about Commonwealth law — the Customs Act 1901 and Australian Border Force policy apply the same way at every Australian airport and seaport, regardless of which state or territory you land in. That is different from the rest of this section, where New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria each run their own separate scheme.
Two questions get run together at the border, and they have different answers. The first is whether an officer can examine your phone at all — yes, easily. The second is whether you must unlock it for them — and that one works differently.
What an officer can do without your help
Under s.186 of the Customs Act 1901, any officer may examine goods subject to customs control — a category that includes your phone or laptop — and the cost of that examination, including any removal to the place of examination, is borne by you as the owner.
If a document is examined this way, an officer may also make a copy of it or take an extract, under s.186A, or arrange for another Customs officer or a suitably experienced person to do so on their behalf. That examining and copying power exists whether or not you provide a passcode — the passcode question is separate, and it works differently.
The passcode question: a policy answer, not a statute
The Customs Act does not say anywhere that you must hand over your device passcode. What exists instead is a public position the ABF gave to a Senate Estimates committee in February 2022: “There is no legal compulsion for a traveller to provide a password/passcode or provide assistance to an electronic device at the border.”
That is a policy answer to a parliamentary question, not a section of an Act — worth knowing, because it can change as ABF policy changes, and it does not carry the force of a statute the way a court order such as a s.3LA order does.
What refusing actually costs you
Saying no to the passcode request has real consequences, all coming from that same ABF answer. If you refuse and an officer considers there to be a risk to the border, they are authorised to seize your device for further examination before returning it. Current ABF policy is to hold a seized device for no longer than 14 days, unless the examination reasonably needs longer or something is found on it that makes the device itself liable to seizure.
The ABF says it does not alter or delete any data on your device as a result of examining it under the Customs Act or the Migration Act. Any data it does copy can only be shared under specific legislation covering that type of information — for example Part 6 of the Australian Border Force Act, the Privacy Act, or the Migration Act.
See how this compares with other countries, what to do before you travel, and the wider question of when you must give police the code generally.
Last reviewed 2026-09-08. Next review due 2026-12-08. No lawyer has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.