People travelling to Australia will no longer have to complete a Digital Passenger Declaration (DPD) to declare their COVID-19 vaccination status as it has been suspended for further improvements. 

The DPD was introduced in February this year as a replacement to the Australia Travel Declaration, collecting contact information, vaccination status, passport information and travel history from those arriving by air. 

The mobile app, however, received much controversy and criticism from the public due to its poor functionality and unfriendly user experience. A majority of its reviews on the Apple App store were of the lowest ranking and most comments complained about glitches, poor design and redundancy.

The public sector union also criticised the outsourcing of the government technology to Irish tech company Accenture. Accenture was selected by the Digital Transformation Agency through a tender for the permissions capability in 2020 and was given a $75 million allocation under the 2020-21 Budget. 

Following the backlash, Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil announced that the Digital Passenger Declaration app will be suspended starting this week. 

“We’ve also listened to feedback about the DPD,” she said. 

“While in time it will replace the paper-based incoming passenger card, it needs a lot more work to make it user-friendly.” 

The suspension of the Digital Passenger Declaration app is part of the new changes to the Biosecurity Act, which were made following health advice from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly.

The new changes to the act allow all visa holders to travel to Australia without needing to declare their vaccination status. 

“This is great news for families coming home from school holidays who now don’t need to use the DPD,” Minister O’Neil said. 

“Removing these requirements will not only reduce delays in our airports but will encourage more visitors and skilled workers to choose Australia as a destination. And for Australian citizens, with the removal of these requirements, returning home will be much easier.”

Those arriving by sea will also benefit from the new changes in the act, and will no longer need to complete a Maritime Travel Declaration. Airlines, cruise ship operators and other countries may still have specific requirements that travellers need to comply with.

Source: Minister for Home Affairs Media Release. Content has been edited for style and length. 

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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