Clearer, Simpler Travel Advice

Australia's comprehensive travel advisory service is being refined to make it easier for Australian travellers (pdf 512KB) to use and comprehend.

The changes underscore the Government's commitment to doing all it can to protect the safety and welfare of Australians travelling overseas. The travel advisories will now be clearer and simpler for Australian travellers to use.

The advisories will also reinforce the crucial point that decisions about when, where and whether to travel are up to individual Australians.

The changes include the creation of a new five-level advisory system which grades the Government's assessment of the level of risk in individual countries. The system ranges from level one which advises travellers to 'be alert to their own security' to the highest level which recommends Australians 'not to travel' to specific countries.

Each travel advisory will now include a new graphic table to enable travellers to take in at a glance the relative level of risk in the country in question, and a sharper summary of the key points in the advice. More headings will be used, to make information easier to find, and a map will be included with each advice for ease of reference.

None of the reforms make any substantive change to the way the Government assesses threats. Rather, the changes simply make travel advice easier for Australians to use as the basis for making their own well-informed decisions about overseas travel.

The Government will continue to work in close partnership with the travel industry to promote travel advisories and to encourage Australians to refer to them as a vital part of their travel preparations.

For further information visit DFAT's smartraveller website.

Media inquiries : Ministerial 02 6277 7500, DFAT Media Liaison 02 6261 1555