France is risky, the US isn’t: Smartraveller’s confusing warnings

Smartraveller was set up by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) as a “trusted and knowledgeable authority for Australians preparing to travel or already travelling overseas”, according to its website.

A survey by the Insurance Council of Australia concluded that 50 per cent of us turn to Smartraveller.com for advice. Smartraveller says it’s 67 per cent. But are we getting good advice?

Check it out before you check in.Credit: Illustration: Greg Straight

Smartraveller considers safety and health risks, natural disasters and draconian laws in 178 destinations and provides four levels of advice.

Level 1 tells you that “security would be like that of a large Australian city” and you need worry only about scams, pickpockets, dark alleys and the like.

Level 3 (“reconsider your need to travel”) and level 4 (“do not travel”) warn you of terrorism, kidnapping, violent crime, civil unrest, imprisonment or infectious disease.

You shouldn’t question that advice, and your travel insurance mightn’t cover you. Anyway, why would you want to be holidaying in Afghanistan, Haiti, Yemen or Gaza?

You should, however, take a more analytical approach to level 2 warnings about exercising “a high degree of caution”, which might put you off visiting places you have no need to fear.

Level 2 countries cover an extraordinary gamut, including Chile, China, Indonesia, Thailand, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Bosnia. I pick those because I’ve visited all of them over the past two years without issue.

Thailand – does it really demand “a high degree of caution”?Credit: iStock

One thing to consider is that these are blanket recommendations which don’t fit all travellers or the way they travel.

Would I wander parts of PNG on my own? No, but I happily visited on an expedition cruise. Did I visit unresearched neighbourhoods in South Africa? Certainly not, but I drove and walked myself around without any problem. So, take your circumstances into account. Someone visiting family, or on a tour, doesn’t have the same considerations as a solo female backpacker.

Second, Smartraveller’s level 2 advice sometimes seems to have more to do with politics than safety, though DFAT denies this. Take warnings about developing or adversarial nations with a larger grain of salt.

“Enhanced vetting” is seeing some travellers turned away from the US at the border for unusual reasons.Credit: Getty

Third, be aware that level 2 is inconsistently applied. Germany is on that level because of increased risk of terrorism. Acts of terror killed 10 people in Germany in 2024. Otherwise, by Smartraveller’s own admission, “violent crime isn’t common”.

Yet the United States remains at no-worries level 1 despite Smartraveller’s own warnings about “a persistent threat of mass casualty violence and terrorist attacks”. Mass shootings killed 448 people in America in 2024.

The US has also begun enhanced screening at the border, with searches of travellers’ electronic devices and their content used as a basis for refusing admission.

Maybe you should be the judge of whether America is safer than Germany. Or Sweden. Or Denmark. And take note of the US State Department’s travel advice about Australia for perspective. Although at level 1 (“exercise normal precautions”), it warns of possible terrorist attacks, bar brawls, drink spiking, public safety around demonstrations, robberies, assaults and “auto theft”. Doesn’t sound like a country you’d be relaxed to visit, does it?