Huge demand for ‘poor value’ Australian passports

The Australian passport is in huge demand now international travel is again a reality, but a study ranks it one of the worst in terms of value.

The Australian passport has been ranked one of the bottom five in the world in terms of value for money based on its cost and acceptance worldwide.

The reopening of Australia’s international borders has triggered an avalanche of demand for passport renewals after close to 2 million expired during the pandemic.

Figures provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade showed since November 1, 2021, when the ban on Australians leaving the country was lifted, more than 700,000 new passports have been issued.

The bulk of those, nearly 400,000, were handed over between January and March this year, which was twice the number delivered in the same period last year.

It followed an SMS campaign by DFAT prompting passport holders to renew their recently expired or about-to-expire travel documents, out of concern people may not be aware they were no longer current.

However, the surge in demand saw average waiting times for passport renewals double from three weeks to six weeks. Some travellers have even been told to allow eight weeks for delivery of their new passport.

“Priority” processing is available at an additional cost of $225 — in order to be certain of getting a new passport delivered within a few days — on top of the $308 cost of renewing an adult passport.

The price tag has made the Australian passport one of the world’s most expensive, and according to a new study, among the “worst value”.

Analysis by travel booking site parksleepfly.com ranked Australia’s passport the fifth worst value due to the cost and “mobility rating”.

The mobility rating was assessed based on the number of countries an Australian passport holder could access visa-free, which was calculated as 103.

Combined, the two factors added up to an overall score of 2.56 out of 10, putting the Australian passport just ahead of Canada, Chile, San Marino and Liechtenstein, which was rated the world’s worst value passport.

Residents of the tiny European principality are charged $365 for a passport with 10 years validity and can access 106 countries.

At the other end of the scale, the United Arab Emirates passport was rated 10 out of 10 due to the low cost of $18 (valid for five years) and high mobility rating.

The Swedish passport ranked second with a price tag of $60 and recognition in 115 countries, followed by South Korea at a cost of $61 and acceptance in 114 countries.

The study showed the Singapore passport opened the door to the highest number of countries, at 120, and cost about $70.

Since the federal government lifted the ban on overseas travel for Australians, all but 19 countries have been taken off the “do not travel” list.

Places that remain off limits include Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Afghanistan, North Korea, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Myanmar.

Another 40 countries are listed by DFAT as high risk or “reconsider your need to travel”, including Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Samoa, Vietnam, Chile, Cuba, Egypt, Solomon Islands, Mexico and the Philippines.

In many cases, such as PNG, Vietnam and the Philippines, the official travel advice is related to the “impacts of Covid-19”.

In the Solomon Islands, Australians are urged to reconsider the need to travel due to the impact of Covid-19 and civil unrest.