Passport production rate hits 12,000 a day

The end of travel restrictions coupled with an ‘unprecedented demand’ for Aussie passports has bureaucrats working in overdrive to clear the backlog.

Australian passports are being produced at a rate of 12,000 a month after more than 2 million expired during the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture: iStock

The Australian Passport Office is churning out an average of 12,000 passports a day in an effort to clear an enormous backlog of applications in the wake of borders reopening.

Throughout the border closure period from March 2020 to February 2022, around 2 million passports expired due to the fact most people could not travel out of the country.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said the APO was now facing “unprecedented demand for passports as they dealt with pent-up travel demand”.

“In the four months since June, we have issued more than 1 million passports, averaging around 12,000 passports a day — up 30 per cent on pre-pandemic normal,” said the spokesman.

“The Australian government has more than doubled the number of APO staff, from 730 in May to over 1900 now,” said the spokesman.

“We have also onboarded more than 400 additional staff at the APO’s call centres since early June.”

The increased workforce meant passports were being issued faster, and the APO was continuing to work through the backlog of applications, the spokesman said.

“We are now issuing around 2000 more passports a day than in June,” he said.

At a cost of $308 for each new or renewed ten-year passport, the APO’s increased productivity was generating about $3.7m a day or $18.5m a week.

As a result of the accelerated rate of production, most passports were being processed in less than six weeks but the spokesman warned that some were taking longer.

There were around six weeks of work in the processing queue and anyone planning on travelling over the summer holiday period was urged to ensure their passport was current.

The spokesman said they were not expecting a significant increase in applications from people affected by the Optus data breach, due to the unique security features of passports.

“The passport numbers cannot be used to obtain a new passport,” said an APO statement. “Robust controls are used to protect passports from identity takeover, including sophisticated facial recognition technology.”

The cost of a ten-year passport for Australians aged 16 and over is $308, and $155 for a five-year passport for children under 16.

Priority processing is available for another $225, and replacement passports cost $193.

The number of Australians heading overseas each month is now back to two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels, according to latest Bureau of Statistics data.

Most of those leaving the country for a short-term trip were heading to New Zealand, followed by Bali and the UK.

Strong demand for overseas travel was being tempered by limited airline capacity which remained at just over 50 per cent of 2019 levels.

As a result passenger loads on outgoing flights were typically in excess of 85 per cent, the highest rate of seat utilisation in history.