gqsewertube

I will be transitting from Asia to New Zealand via either BNE or MEL later this year.

I have read that there is a no opt out policy for body scanners in Australia. My question is are transit pax subjected to the scanner in BNE or MEL? If I refuse what is the worst that can happen? My flight to New Zealand would be within a few hours from arrival so I don't plan to leave the airport.

Thanks for any guidance.

mandolino

A colleague of mine was refused boarding in Perth when he refused to go through a body-scanner. Not sure exactly what happened but he caught the next flight 24hrs later.

I can't remember whether they have them in BNE or MEL since it's no more an issue to me than X-Rays or intrusive security checks in general. I detest them all equally.

CRAZ8

I recently flew out of BNE international, and I don't remember even seeing a body scanner for departing passengers. I don't know about Transit, but presumably there's less security there in general, since you're already airside.

Jorgen

I never transit international-to-international in Australia so I don't really know. There's a few body scanners in Australia but I don't think I've ever had to go through one, I always join the metal-detector lane. With so few of them around I doubt there'd be one at the transit security check but I can't be sure.

What's the worst thing that can happen? Interesting question. If you don't have an Australian visa they can't kick you out of the airport. Generally the worst thing they can do is to send you on a plane back home, but if you can't get past the security check to get into the arrivals area they can't do that either. Presumably they won't let you just stay in the arrivals corridor forever. So I guess theoretically the *worst* thing they can do is to put you into an immigration detention centre (possibly in Nauru or PNG) until they figure out what to do with you (which could be years). Under those circumstances I'd recommend just taking the darn body scan.

Seriously though, I doubt they have body scanners at the transit queue anyway.

chavala

Curious, what's the big deal with the body scanners anyway?

SpannerSpinner

I don't recall seeing body scanners in BNE or MEL, I travel through BNE 5-6 times a year and have never encountered one, MEL I don't travel as frequently , but no recollection of full body scanners.

Intl departures from ADL on the other hand, I seem to get the full body scan treatment 1 in 3 trips.

mandolino

We're concerned for the tender sensibilities of the security staff viewing our outlines.

In the case of my colleague who got detained , a US citizen residing in SE Asia, it was a civil liberty issue, according to him. Or maybe he'd heard of citizens making a stand in the USA having a go and refusing body scans, and decided he'd like a bit of that action.

For me it's no more a breach of personal liberty than the X-ray and bag inspection. Like I said, I detest them all equally.

cavemanzk

The staff don't see anything like this in the Australian airports, the machine has an screen that shows them an message which is either cleared or no cleared.

Kiwi Flyer

Yes there are nudeoscopes at SYD/BNE/MEL international transit security.

If opt out for medical reasons you will instead get a vigorous pat down and wanding.

Of course you might also get lucky and get to use the walk through metal detector.

henrus

There is no opt out policy in Australia and if you refuse to go through when randomly selected then you will not be allowed to continue your journey

From there you have a few options you can either

- Go through customs/immigration (you'll need to have a visa/esta if needed) and then attempt to re-clear security with everyone else

- If they don't allow you to leave then you will have to wait until you either agree to be scanned

They don't often use the full body scanner with transit pax unless a large flight has come through eg - the emirates flight where there are 100 people transiting at the same time

As they have proven that the full body scanners will not effect pacemakers and other medical devices they will still tell you to go through

Efrem

I transited USA-New Zealand at BNE in late May. No body scanner.

Guy Betsy

I get deathly ill when I went through a scanner once. Nausea, and migraine instantly. So now I opt out of it whenever I can. At Amsterdam airports, they have them and when I opt out and they let me walk pass them to the search area, I can feel the buzz in my head and body.

Those body scanners, no matter how safe they claim they are, are basically gigantic microwaves.