Protecting our borders

The Australian Border Force is responsible for the protection of Australia’s border in partnership with a range of intelligence, law enforcement and other agencies. Our mission is to protect our border and manage the movement of people and goods across it and, by doing so, we aim to make Australia safer and more prosperous.

Our operating environment

Australia adopts a whole-of-government approach to its national security. Australia is a free, prosperous and harmonious society. However, it is also these aspects of our society that terrorists and violent extremists seek to harm. The threat to Australia and Australians from terrorists and violent extremists is both real and growing.

Similarly, geopolitical events, ranging from instability and conflict, through to global health crises, can lead to failed states or major armed conflict. These events create both direct and indirect security challenges to Australia, including fostering terrorism, population displacement and the irregular movement of people.

Continuing to secure our borders, while enabling the seamless legitimate movement of people and goods, will be essential to ensuring Australia remains a prosperous society.

Travel and trade patterns are becoming more complex with significant growth in the range of goods, biosecurity hazards and economic risks. The geographic area in which we operate is also expanding, with an increasing number of remote ports coming on-line. At the same time entities trying to breach Australia’s borders are becoming increasingly responsive and resilient to law enforcement interventions and tactics.

Opportunities for organised crime today are unprecedented. Increased globalisation, escalating cross-border movements of people, goods and money, emerging international markets, and rapidly developing and converging technologies provide a fertile operating environment for organised crime.

Advancement in technology offer opportunities to improve how the Australian Border Force enables and facilitates its operations, using functionality such as biometrics for enhanced entry control, expansion of automated entry systems and an evolving cyber security environment. They also present challenges through the potential for exploitation by criminal networks to compromise the security of the border and the processes and systems used to protect it.

Internet trade is also increasing its reach over global markets, presenting challenges to the traditional format of trade relationships—both licit and illicit, with an exponential growth in the volume of online purchased goods crossing the border. The risks to the Australian community posed by the movement of illicit drugs continue to be high. The Australian Border Force continues to work collaboratively with domestic and international law enforcement agencies to disrupt organised crime groups involved in the import of illicit drugs.

The identification and analysis of illicit firearm trafficking networks is a high priority. The number of undeclared handguns detected at the border increased by almost 60 per cent in 2013-14 with several deliberate attempts at concealing handguns in international mail. 

Traditionally, illicit tobacco has entered Australia through sea cargo, however we are increasingly detecting undeclared cigarettes in international mail and air cargo.