Adelaide, 26 July 2003

Speech by the Hon Alexander Downer, MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the Convention of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents

Working Together to Make Travel Safer for Australians

Ladies and gentlemen

I am delighted to be here today at the Convention of the Australian federation of Travel Agents.

As you well know, Government and industry are working together, in response to an entirely new environment for Australians travelling abroad.

It is an environment characterised by threats posed principally by terrorism, demonstrated most tragically for Australia by the bombing in Bali on October 12 last year.

This new environment has brought home to us all the need for heightened personal safety and security in our travel planning.

More than ever today's traveller expects credible, accurate, up-to-date advice about security and related issues overseas.

Today I would like to talk to you about the importance of travel advisories for Australians going abroad and how we ensure that they contain the best advice possible.

I would also like to focus on how the Government and the travel industry are working together through the Charter for Safe Travel to ensure that this vital information is reaching Australian travellers.

Finally I would like to outline how the Government assists these travellers, if they do get into trouble abroad.

The importance of travel advisories

We have to face the reality: there are always are risks in travelling - even before the tragic events in Bali last October, and in September 2001 in New York.

But we must not lose sight of the fact that travel is a rewarding experience for Australians. It is also a great way to build people-to-people links, with our immediate neighbours and with all other countries.

And travel is also a great engine for growth and economic development.

So we want to encourage Australians to travel overseas - but we want them to do so safely and on the basis of the best advice available.

We want Australians planning travel overseas to be aware of possible risks and to take them into account when they travel.

To that end, the Government provides a travel advisory service - offering reliable, up-to-the-moment information on places where there is an identifiable risk, and recommending what Australians should do.

I want to stress that our travel advisories are not about issuing terrorist warnings or "no-go" notices. Of the 139 countries covered by my department's travel advice, Australians are advised to avoid all travel to only ten.

Instead, travel advisories provide advice on a range of practical issues like visa requirements, health and medical issues, cultural or religious differences and how to get assistance if it is needed.

In short, travel advisories provide reliable information to help Australians travel safely and return to Australia with the confidence to travel again

Where do we get that information?

You've heard a lot about the intelligence that underpins our advice, and yes we have access to more information than you might think, but it's very important to note that the intelligence agencies comprise but one of four important sources. These are

• the assessments of our embassies, high commissions and consulates overseas about risks in the local security environment
• our everyday consular experience of the kinds of difficulties Australians get into, for example Australians being deported from Los Angeles airport for not having the right visa documentation in the United States
• threat assessments from ASIO
• consultation with our partnergovernments -the US, UK, Canada and NZ.

As I have said many times over the last year or so, where the government has credible information that affects the safety and security of Australians overseas, this is reflected in our travel advisories - if there is a problem we will tell it as it is.

Travel industry charter

How do we disseminate this important information?

I am very pleased that the travel industry is working with us to ensure Australians get the travel advice they need.

Last month, I launched, with Mike Hatton from the Australian Federation of Travel Agents, the Charter for Safe Travel.

The Charter is a joint Government and travel industry initiative to improve Australians' access to travel advice, and the traveller's awareness of safety and security issues associated with overseas travel.

It is, in effect, a commitment by industry and Government to the safety of Australians overseas.

It is a voluntary response to an international environment that is sadly characterised by uncertainty on the part of travelling Australians about the global security environment, and about the extent to which their own personal safety and security is threatened.

My own personal strong belief is that this voluntary - as opposed to regulatory - approach is the most effective way to take forward this issue.

Indeed it is squarely in everyone's interest that the Charter succeed.

Community interest in travel advice has never been so strong, a point I will return to.

For the travel industry, your preparedness to meet customer interest in safe travel is an important opportunity for you to enhance your customer service.

Put simply, your support for travel advice provides the opportunity to enhance your commercial reputation.

The success of the Charter will rest on the response of travel agents. I welcome AFTA's decision at the Conference to make its membership partners of the Charter [TBC].

I also encourage all agents to familiarise themselves with the Charter, including its promotional benefits, from the department's webpage at dfat.gov.au

As you many of you will know by now, under the charter, the travel industry will encourage individuals to consult the Government's travel advice, and to take out appropriate travel insurance.

In particular, travel agents will provide information on how to obtain the Government's travel advice along with ticketing information.

And at the time bookings are made, the Government's travel advice will be provided, especially for countries with particular security problems, where my Department has recommended that travel be deferred.

How will travel agents themselves have ready access, and regular updates, on the Government's travel advice?

Well, we have established a travel advice e-mail alert service utilising the industry's own web-mail system to reach over 4,600 travel agents.

On my Department's own website - dfat.gov.au - clear advice for travel agents on how travel advisories are formulated is now provided.

In addition, we are developing - with industry - a travel advice training module for use by industry members to increase understanding of travel advisories and how they should be used.

Of course, while industry and government are cooperating to promote safe international travel, ultimately it is up to the individual to stay informed of developments overseas.

Travel advice can change frequently, given changes in situations abroad, while travel arrangements may be finalised months in advance.

Ultimately, also, the choice about where, and when, to travel is an individual one.

Fortunately, the vast majority of Australians recognise that careful planning is an essential part of responsible and safe travel.

Almost 25,000 Australians now subscribe to my department's travel advice email updates.

91,000 Australians overseas have registered their details with Australian overseas posts.

And Australians access the department's travel advice site for information at a rate of 150,000 times each week.

I want Australians to keep checking our advice right up to the point of stepping on the ship or aeroplane.

At Sydney International Airport we have installed two touch-screen kiosks providing updated travel advice from my department's website.

More kiosks are to be rolled out to international airports in coming weeks, including here in Adelaide. I look forward to many more kiosks being put in place at passport offices and airports around the country.

Those who say that providing travel advice at the place of departure is too late have missed the fundamental point that it is never too late to update yourself on the situation in the country to which you are headed.

Indeed, one of the things we want to encourage is for Australians to check our travel advice periodically when they are overseas - the point being that the security environment can change and our travel advice is one important way of staying informed.

Consular services

Our responsibility to Australian travellers does not end there - we also help them if they do get into trouble.

Last financial year my department assisted over 24,000 Australians in serious difficulty overseas.

Our consular officers provided welfare and guidance to 19,194 Australians suffering distress as the result of illness, injury or other misfortune.

They assisted 722 Australians who were hospitalised, and helped 116 Australians to be evacuated for medical treatment elsewhere.

They helped the friends and relatives of 1,838 Australians about whom their loved ones held concerns.

They saw to the consular rights of 649 Australians who were arrested overseas, and they continued to assist the approximately 200 Australians who are serving sentences in overseas prisons.

Every year, my Department - and in particular the Consular Emergency Centre operates 24 hours a day, every day - handles over 100,000 phone calls from Australians overseas and at home seeking consular advice.

These figures illustrate the extent of the department's consular services, provided at over 160 points of delivery around the world.

We also work with other governments to ensure that Australians have access to consular services wherever they may be.

We have a formal consular sharing arrangement with Canada that provides an additional 18 locations worldwide where Australians can access consular services and informal arrangements with other countries, such as the United Kingdom.

We need to keep these figures in perspective - 24,000 consular cases annually represent only a little over half a per cent of the 3.5 million overseas trips made by Australians each and every year.

This alone demonstrates that international travel - despite the uncertain nature of the world and the shadow of terrorism - remains for most Australians a safe and enjoyable venture.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen

The underlying message to the Australian traveller is this: prepare, be aware and return home safely.

It is an overwhelmingly positive message - a message, I am sure, that will be helped along by our new Charter.

I look forward to the continued close cooperation between the Government and the travel industry in responding to the needs and wishes of the Australian travelling public for the benefit of Australians, our economic well-being and our future.

Thank you.