A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said that the first question on the custom’s Incoming Passenger Cards has been changed to ask passengers if they are carrying pornography.
The change was allegedly made late last year because the term “pornography” was more recognisable to travellers than the term “objectionable material”.
Travellers who answer YES to this newly worded question will then be asked whether they are declaring a weapon, illicit drugs or pornography.
If they say they are carrying ‘pornography,’ Customs officers have the authority to search these materials.
The Australian Sex Party President Fiona Patten claims the change was "sneaked through" by the Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O'Connor.
“How can the Minister call this monstrous invasion of people’s privacy and the criminalisation of hundreds of thousands of people who will answer ‘no’ to this question out of embarrassment, a ‘minor’ or ‘machinery’ change?”
Ms Patten said that Australian customs officials are looking for any R18+ and N18+ material— and many people wouldn’t admit to carrying porn due to embarrassment.
“Is it fair that customs officers rummage through someone’s luggage and pull out a legal men’s magazine or a lesbian journal in front of their children or their mother-in-law?”
"If you and your partner have filmed or photographed yourselves making love in an exotic destination or even taking a bath, you will have to answer 'Yes' to the question or you will be breaking the law."
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