The government’s travel advice site is much more useful than it used to be

I have no idea what I did when I turned 21. I assume I went out drinking somewhere, probably to one of Brisbane’s classier establishments. I’d like to say Ric’s in Fortitude Valley. But maybe it was Friday’s in the city (for those who didn’t come of age in Brisbane in the early 2000s, I’ll explain the code: Ric’s had rock-star cred. Friday’s had wasted private-school boys).

Strandbar Mitte in Berlin. Smartraveller warns Australians to “exercise a high degree of caution” in Germany.Credit: iStock

Anyway, Smartraveller, the travel advice website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has turned 21 too, and I’m guessing it didn’t go out boozing with its public servant buddies. Instead, it has marked this milestone by subtly freshening its design – which is better than, say, bingeing on Bacardi Breezers.

Still, it seems hard to believe Smartraveller has been around so long. Has the internet even been around for 21 years?

In fact, the first piece of travel advice published by DFAT does pre-date the worldwide web. By a long way. Back in the 1970s, the department used to include a booklet in every new passport, warning travellers of potential dangers they may face overseas.

By 1985, DFAT had released a brochure called Everyone’s guide to trouble-free overseas travel. And then, finally, the department began publishing country-specific advice on its website in 1996.

All of which leads us to 2003, when the standalone website Smartraveller launched. Australian travellers have been reading it with fear and trepidation ever since.

Beautiful Albania – just beware of landmines.Credit: iStock

I say this tongue-in-cheek, but it’s kind of true. I used to refer to Smartraveller as “Scaredtraveller”, because there’s almost no way to read it and still feel comfortable about leaving the safety of your own home.

In seeking to cover all bases (and probably their own arses), DFAT’s travel advice is often terrifying to potential travellers, who are convinced they will be kidnapped by terrorists, mauled by bears or caught up in a demonstration the moment their passports are stamped.

The world isn’t that scary. But Smartraveller is.

And so, on its 21st birthday, rather than tell embarrassing stories about Smartraveller, it’s worth taking another look at its usefulness. Does anyone actually read it? And is it worthwhile for those who do?

I have to say, I think Smartraveller has improved enormously, particularly over the last 10 years or so.

I used to check the site before travelling because I had to, because I needed to know if the country I was visiting was rated “Do not travel”, which would void my travel insurance. I also had a morbid fascination with all the awful things that were apparently going to happen to me on arrival (despite my destination listings sometimes not having been updated for over a year).

Things are much better now. Yes, you still have to check to see if your destination is on the naughty list, but the information available for each country seems much more frequently updated, and the scary rhetoric has been toned down slightly. (To the point where you find such wildly flippant advice as, “Watch out for landmines in the north-east border areas” of Albania – um, OK?)

The website has added other useful information, too. Back in the day, if you went to check Smartraveller for visa or entry requirements for your destination, it would simply tell you to ask the relevant authority for the country you were visiting. As in, not our problem.

Now, however, there’s up-to-date information on entry requirements for pretty much every country you could travel to, plus a wealth of detailed information on tricky subjects such as the Schengen Area entry rules, specific advice for LGBTQIA+ travellers, and, you know, what to do if you find yourself trapped in an armed conflict.

I still have a few issues with the warning levels, most of which, I understand, are unavoidable from a diplomatic standpoint. Still, there are some head-scratchers.

Germany, for example, is currently listed as yellow – “Exercise a high degree of caution” – for reasons that aren’t particularly well explained. “Violent crime isn’t common,” Smartraveller admits, “but it does happen. Racial harassment occurs.”

That all seems OK until you click through to the US and discover that our close ally is rated green – “Exercise normal safety precautions” – despite, as the website says: “Violent crime is more common in the United States than in Australia. Gun crime is also prevalent. There is a persistent threat of mass casualty violence and terrorist attacks.”

Uh huh.

It’s for that reason that I mostly ignore the ratings, or at least don’t plan or cancel my holidays around them. The information on Smartraveller should be treated as a good starting point, from which you can then collect more information from more diverse sources and make an informed decision.

Aside from that though – and the spelling, which constantly irks me, since I can’t help but read it as “Smart Raveller” – it’s hard to complain. Smartraveller really has come of age. Let’s pour it a drink.