The surprisingly strict rules and regulations about bringing souvenirs home
Australia has some of the most highly-regulated borders in the world and while souvenirs are a great way to remember your trip, bringing the wrong one back can lead to a grilling from a customs official, hefty on the spot fine or even worse, prosecution.
So before you buy that katana sword, mosquito zapper or 10kg of beef that caught your eye in an overseas market, read this guide to what you can and can’t bring home.
Restrictions
The following items are completely restricted (and let’s be honest wouldn’t really make that good a souvenir anyway) and must be declared on arrival. They include:
- Firearms, weapons and ammunition
- Performance and image enhancing drugs
- Medicines. This includes prescription, alternative and herbal medicines as well as vitamins and mineral preparation formulas
- Currency, when you’re carrying AUD $10,000 or a foreign equivalent
- Protected wildlife (things like coral, orchids, caviar) and hunting trophies
- Agricultural and veterinary chemical products
- Goods that may be heritage listed, like works of art, stamps and coins
Limits
The following item categories may be taken back in Australia, but there are strict limits on the amount of the material you’re allowed to take that will be enforced by customs:
- Duty free products – the duty free limits for adults are items to the value of $900 and for children items to the value of $450. You’re not allowed to take more than 2.25 litres of alcohol and you’re not allowed to take more than 50 cigarettes or 50g of tobacco
- Market goods & shopping – the rules are varied, depending on the items. You’re allowed to bring back katana swords, swords and bayonets and multi-tool knifes, but you’re definitely not allowed to bring back blowguns, electric shock devices, fireworks, fake designer goods and pirated DVDS. There are also various restrictions and limits that apply to laser pointers, leather and bone goods, mosquito zappers and items that are wooden or woven.
Top 20 most-confiscated goods:
The Department of Immigration has also provided a list of the top 20 most-confiscated goods for people coming back into Australia. So it goes without saying if you’re coming back into the country with one of these items in your luggage you might be setting yourself up for an interesting discussion with the folks at customs.
1. Laser pointers
2. Food & drink
3. Electric shock devices
4. Blow guns or blow pipes
5. Flick knives
6. Knuckle dusters
7. Extendable batons
8. Throwing blades
9. Daggers
10. Nunchakus
11. Pepper sprays
12. Arm brace slingshots
13. Concealed blades
14. Steroids
15. Wooden and woven items
16. Soft air BB guns
17. Sedatives
18. Hormones
19. Illegal porn
20. Leather, fur, horns, bones (fully tanned leather is ok)
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