Duty Free Allowance

For other goods, limits apply.

These include goods that are purchased overseas and goods that are purchased in Australia duty or tax free (that have been previously exported), or from an inwards duty-free shop on arrival into Australia.

Duty-free concessions do not apply to commercial goods. There are no duty-free concessions on tobacco or alcohol for travellers aged under 18.

Tobacco

If you are aged 18 years or over you can bring one unopened packet of up to 25 cigarettes or 25 grams of other tobacco products; and one open packet of cigarettes duty-free into Australia with you. All tobacco products in accompanied baggage are included in this category, regardless of how or where they were purchased.

General goods

If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring up to A$900 worth of general goods into Australia duty-free. If you are under 18 years of age there is a A$450 limit.

General goods include gifts, souvenirs, cameras, electronic equipment, leather goods, perfume concentrates, jewellery, watches and sporting equipment.

Tourist Refund Scheme

If you return to Australia with goods for which you have claimed a GST refund under the TRS on departure, you must declare those goods at Question 3 on the Incoming Passenger Card (IPC) if their value exceeds the passenger concession of A$900.

GST refunds received on goods exceeding the passenger concession will have to be repaid if the items are brought into Australia.

Alcoholic beverages

If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty-free into Australia with you. All alcoholic beverages in accompanied baggage are included in this category, regardless of where or how they were purchased.

Aviation security regulations may restrict the volume of liquids that you can bring into Australia as hand luggage. As an alternative, duty-free alcoholic beverages can be purchased in an airport duty-free shop on arrival in Australia. For more information about the restrictions, visit Families traveling together can pool their duty-free concessions.

Traveling with family

Families coming back to Australia on the same flight or voyage may combine (pool) their individual duty-free concession limits. To do this, families must stay together when going through Customs clearance.

A family includes a person and his or her de facto partner (including same-sex couples) and any of their children under 18 years of age or a husband and wife, and any of their children.

For example, a family of two adults and two children would have a combined duty-free allowance of AUD 2700.

What happens if I exceed the duty-free limits?

If you exceed Australia’s duty-free limits, duty and tax will apply on all items of that type (general goods, alcohol or tobacco), not just the goods over the limit. If you have anything in excess of your duty-free concession, declare the goods and provide proof of purchase to us for calculation of any duty and tax to be paid. Failure to declare goods in excess of your concession could result in penalties.

Payment of customs duty/taxes

Payment of Customs duty and/or other taxes may be made in cash (Australian dollars), credit/debit card (MasterCard, Visa or American Express) * or by electronic funds transfer (EFTPOS) from an Australian bank account*