YMMV. Happened to me consistently at YYZ until I switched over to GE. See the pages above for this conversation...

US trusted travelers (incl NEXUS) get access to Austrialia's SmartGate program
 

Just got an email this morning from US DHS...I haven't seen this posted, so for those who might benefit:

U.S. citizens who are members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler programs are eligible to use SmartGate upon arrival in Australia if they:

are a member of CBP's Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI Program;
travel on a valid U.S. ePassport¹ and
are 16 years of age or older.

Travelers who meet all three criteria will be eligible to try SmartGate.

There is no additional enrollment process to participate in SmartGate. CBP has partnered with the Australian Government on this initiative to facilitate the entry of U.S. citizens into Australia. By using SmartGate, eligible travelers are able to bypass Australia's manual passport control processing queues and self-process using their ePassport¹.

WOW. It's a good reason to plan a trip to Sydney on the next vacation.

So based on the recent posts in this thread the wait from interview to receiving the card is 1-2 weeks?

It was about 2 weeks when I got mine 2 years ago, but most other parts of the process seem to be a bit longer these days.

I had my interview on Oct 29th and got my card yesterday. My photo so bad its funny. My face, instead of being the whole photo is like 1/9th of the photo. I've uploaded an example showing the size of my face on the card using the stock NEXUS image (and I still might have made the face too big). Can't wait to try to use it as ID at the airport.

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/3167/nexus.gif

For me, the card was in my mailbox on the morning of the 4th business day after the interview, but my interview was after normal business hours on a Thursday, and if it was put in the mail on Friday, it would have been moving my way over the weekend. They said "7 to 10 business days" but it was much faster for me.

It depends on the agent. For a while, they never asked, then they started all the time, then I'd say about half the time. Since the GE machines have been in YYZ, I use those, and then they can't ask for it. However, end Oct. all the Nexus machines were down, so I needed to use Nexus, and I did get asked for the card.

I hope Canada's in line for this soon as well :)

I thought some folks might find it useful to see the timelines for Nexus that I experienced, your mileage may vary:

GOES application submitted: 9-October-2011
Preliminary Approval: 23-October-2011
First interview booked in March-2013 in Vancouver
Second interview was February-2013 in Blaine
Third attempt at an interview was a cancellation 31-October-2012 at YVR.
Interviewed 31-October-2013,
Card arrived 8-November-2012 (I was told the card could take up to 3 weeks to arrive but it was obviously quicker)

Hope this helps give new applicants an idea of timelines at the moment.

When does this start? I just went through SYD yesterday. Didn't see any sign beside the AU and NZ flags.

It started on 11/1.

Question of the day!

I am going to the US tomorrow and obviously using a NEXUS lane. I will be carrying a UPS package I plan to drop off while i'm there. Do I have to declare the package when I cross the border?

Yes. And I assume that's not something you sold on ebay right? Because that's not technically allowed, you should use the commercial lanes for that and fill out the appropriate form.

As long as it's a gift for a friend it's fine. It would be a good idea to have proof the value if you can.

It's something I bought on Amazon.com that I am returning. The return shipping was free as long I shipped it in the US. It's not commercial or anything, I am not making any profit or anything with that return.

Shouldn't be an issue as far as I understand it based on the two times I've asked this question; just keep your original receipt with you and declare it.