Kiwis face full body scans at Aussie airports

Kiwi holidaymakers and business travellers to Australia will soon face full-body scans or be banned from flying, in a radical security overhaul that could create greater airport delays.

Australia's international airports will introduce the scanners in a A$28 million upgrade proposed under federal law, and approved by privacy watchdogs.

The new technology had successful trials in Sydney and Melbourne last year, but aviation experts are concerned that their expanded use could create greater queues in Australian terminals.

New Zealanders make nearly a million trips across the ditch a year for business and holidays, and flights to Australia account for nearly half of our overseas travel.

Holidaymakers and business travellers would face the scans as they departed Australia to return home.

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said the efficacy of the new technology was not yet known, and he would not rush to judgement before the scanners were rolled out in July.

He also confirmed that New Zealand's international airports would not being following suit just yet.

"We have a different security profile to Australia's but we would be monitoring what happens once they do establish these things.

"Everyone would want to have as secure arrangement as possible but it is a balance between super security and travel inconvenience as far as we're concerned.''

Under new laws introduced this week it will be mandatory for any passenger selected to participate in a full-body scan. This amendment closed a loophole which allowed passengers to request a pat-down instead.

Only passengers with serious medical conditions will be exempted from the scans.

Australian Transport Minister Anthony Albanese told Australian media that compulsory body scans were necessary to ensure the safety of airports.

"I think the public understands that we live in a world where there are threats to our security, and experience shows they want the peace of mind that comes with knowing government is doing all it can,'' he said.

The government reassured travellers that they would not appear nude on screen, but would instead appear as a stick-figure-like image. This contrasted with some of the controversial scanners used in the United States which showed passengers with transparent clothing.

The government said the US-made scanners were the most sophisticated available, and would detect metallic and non-metallic items while emitting negligible radiation.

Mr Albanese said the strength of the scanners' radio signal was similar to an average mobile phone call.

Aviation commentator Peter Clark said some of the scanners trialled in the United States were time-consuming and had been criticised by passengers as overly intrusive, even if they did not show passengers as virtually naked.

"This now throws in another cost, another delay, another inconvenience to passengers. They're struggling with this in the United States because of the human rights aspect of it.

"I'm 100 per cent for safety and security, but how far do we go? Do we need to walk through the airport naked?''

He said the initiative seemed to go against recent initiatives to ease travel between Australia and New Zealand.

"Only last week we see John Key with [Australian Prime Minister] Julia Gillard trying to get passport-free travel across the Tasman, and while this [law change] might mean people do not have to be profiled, it really does seem to contradict this initiative.''

The scanners will be rolled out at eight international airports in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

In contrast, New Zealand's international airports depended less on scanning, and used alternative security measures such as passenger profiling.

New Zealand and Australian passport holders, who were considered low risk, could bypass the luggage X-ray machines as they exited Customs.

If the full body screening technology was ever introduced in New Zealand, Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff has said extensive public consultation would need to take place beforehand.

A Unisys Security Index study showed that the majority of New Zealanders would have no problem with full-body scanners at airports. Two-thirds of respondents to the survey said they were happy to sacrifice some privacy for increased security.