Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

Australian Customs ship docked in Darwin, Northern Territory

A Dash 8 aircraft of Australian Customs in Darwin (2010).

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the Australian Federal Government agency with the duty of protecting the Australian border, helping with the movement of legal international travellers and goods, and collecting border related duties and taxes.

The Service has nearly 6,000 people working for it in Australia and other countries and is based in Canberra, Australia.

Protecting Australia by stopping illegal and possibly harmful goods, such as drugs and weapons, is a main concern and many methods and equipment are used to help with this task. This includes using intelligence, and computers, detector dogs, Smartgate, x-rays, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and other methods.

In doing its job, Customs works with other government agencies such as the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the Department of Defence and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.

Australia’s borders extend into the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The Australian TV series Border Security: Australia's Front Line shows the work of the Australian Customs Service at airports, sea borders and inside Australia.

Equipment

• Glock pistols, personal body armour, batons, capsicum (OC) spray, and handcuffs. [1] Archived 2009-05-16 at the Wayback Machine

Other websites

• Protecting our borders
• A Week in the Life of Customs
• Arming of front-line Customs officers Archived 2009-05-16 at the Wayback Machine