You cannot take some items beyond the security screening point or on board an aircraft because they present a security risk to all passengers. If you are carrying one of these items on you or in your carry-on baggage, you must surrender it at the screening point.
Airports and airlines do not have to store or return surrendered items to you. Surrendered items are dealt with in accordance with the relevant state and territory legislation.
If you aren’t sure whether you can take an item on board, check with your airline before you arrive at the airport. We recommend that you pack any items you aren’t sure about in your checked baggage, if your airline allows it.
Screening officers have the final say if there is any doubt about whether you can carry an item on board.
Dangerous goods
Dangerous goods are items or substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment when transported by air. They may be dangerous even if you pack them in your checked baggage. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) administers the rules and regulations for dangerous goods.
If you aren’t sure if something is a dangerous good, check if any restrictions apply at Can I pack that?
Prohibited items are regulated by the Aviation Transport Security (Prohibited Items) Instrument 2022.
List of prohibited items
Sporting goods, kitchen utensils, tools, and other items with sharp edges or points that can injure a person
- Axes, hatchets or similar
- Box cutters
- Crampons
- Darts
- Drills
- Ice axes and ice picks
- Ice skates
- Knives, including leather working knives
- Knife-like items (whether or not made of metal) strong enough to be used as a weapon
- Meat cleavers
- Metal cutlery
- Open/straight razors
- Rock climbing equipment such as pitons, hooks, hammers and bolts
- Saws
- Scalpels
- Screwdrivers, crowbars, hammers, pliers and wrenches
- Ski poles
- Utility knives
Sharp items that are not weapons but can (with or without modification) cause harm by penetration
- Letter openers
- Bodkins
- Pointed metal scissors, manicure scissors and scissors with blades more than 6cm long
- Razor blades
- Hypodermic needles (whether or not attached to syringes) without proof that they are medically necessary for your use or the use of another person under your care
Blunt items that can be used to bludgeon or threaten to bludgeon a person
- Baseball, softball and cricket bats and any similar item used in sport
- Billiard, pool or snooker cues
- Hockey and lacrosse sticks and any similar item used in sport
- Golf clubs
- Pieces of wood, metal or any other material big enough to threaten a person with
Household flammable goods
- Aerosol containers, including cans of spray paint, unless they are for personal or medical use and have a cap or locking mechanism
- Petrol and any other flammable liquid
- Fireworks
- Toy caps
Items that can be used to restrain a person
Items that are not prohibited
Sharp items that you can take on board
- Plastic cutlery knife
- Fork with square-ended or round-ended tines and a handle that is round-ended and non-detachable
- Blunt-ended or round-ended scissors with blades less than 6cm long
- Safety razor
- Hypodermic needle where carried by a person who shows proof that it is medically necessary for the person’s use or the use of another person under the person’s care
Flammable items that you can take on board
- Matches and lighters
- Perfume
- Lighter fluid
- Alcohol
- An aerosol container for personal (including cosmetic) use or a medical application (such as an asthma inhaler)
The total volume of all liquid items must not exceed 5 L per passenger. The volume of individual liquid items, other than alcohol or perfume, must not exceed 2 L per passenger.
Due to the number of items passing through security, it is not possible to list all permitted items.
Weapons are regulated by the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 and the Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005.
Parts and ammunition for firearms
Sharp items designed to be used primarily to inflict injury
- Daggers, flick-knives, star knives, shuriken throwing irons and stars
- Harpoons
- Sabres, swords and swordsticks and similar things
- Spears
Items designed to disable or incapacitate, or otherwise harm, a person or animal
- Disabling and incapacitating chemicals, gases or sprays, such as mace, pepper or capsicum spray, tear gas, acid sprays and animal-repellent sprays
- Stun guns
- Anything that can be used to administer an electric shock, such as cattle prods and tasers
Blunt items designed to inflict injury or to be used in self defence
- Billy clubs and leather billies
- Blackjacks
- Martial arts equipment such as knuckle dusters, clubs, coshes, rice flails and nunchucks, kubatons and kubasaunts
- Night sticks and batons
Items that can (with or without modification) discharge projectiles for the purpose of disabling or incapacitating a person or animal
- Ballistic knives and similar devices designed to discharge a projectile by means of an explosive or other propellant or mechanism
- Blow pipes
- Cross‑bows
- Spear guns
- Hunting slings
- Catapults
- Slingshots
- Bows and arrows
Explosive or incendiary devices and flammable materials not ordinarily found around the home
- Dynamite
- Explosives (plastic or otherwise)
- Blasting caps
- Blow‑torches
- Detonators, fuses and detonator cord
- Explosive flares in any form
- Grenades
- Mines and other explosive military stores
- Smoke cartridges
Biotoxins and infectious substances
- Preparations of anthrax spores
Chemical toxins
You should present medicines and medical items at the screening point with proof that it is required, such as a doctor's letter or medical identification card. For prescription medication, the name on the prescription label must match the name on your boarding pass or the name of the person travelling in your care. You must provide a doctor’s letter if you bring hypodermic needles.
The letter should itemise any prescription and non-prescription powder, liquid, aerosol or gel medication. This includes:
- gel-filled external breast prostheses
- personal supplemental oxygen
- items used to regulate the temperature of prescription medications or devices, such as ice packs or gel-filled heat packs.
If you do not have proof that an item is medically necessary, you may need to surrender it.
There are limits to how much medicine or how many medical items you can bring if you are:
- on or connecting to an international flight
- on a domestic flight departing from an international terminal.
You can only bring a reasonable amount to cover the duration of the flight, allowing for any delays. We recommend that you take in your carry-on baggage only what is needed for the flight. You should pack the rest in your checked baggage.
Screening officers have the final say on the amount permitted.
If you plan to bring medication on board, we strongly recommended that you:
- check the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s restrictions for medicines and medical devices
- have the medication and accompanying documents ready for inspection before you arrive at the security screening point.
For more information on going through a security screening point with these items, go to People with special circumstances.
The restrictions apply:
- when departing Australia
- when transiting through Australia from one country to another
- when travelling on the domestic leg of a flight departing from an Australian international terminal
- prior to boarding an inbound flight at its last point of departure before it reaches Australia
- Note that inbound flight restrictions may be applied at the boarding gate at the last point of departure.
Restrictions on liquids, aerosols and gels also apply if you are arriving in Australia on an international flight. See what restrictions apply at Can you bring it in?
Medical devices and medical equipment are exempt from the powder, liquid, aerosol and gel restrictions that apply for international travel. For more information, see Medicine and medical items.
You can print our Travelling with powders, liquids, aerosols and gels fact sheet.
There are two kinds of powders: organic and inorganic. Organic powders are made of or come from living things, such as animals and plants. There are no limits on how much organic powder you can bring on board an aircraft.
There are also no limits on bringing cremated human remains.
Inorganic powders are made of or come from non-living things, such as salt and sand. There are limits on the amount of inorganic powder you can bring on board:
- Inorganic powders must be in containers of 350 mL (volume), 350 g (weight) or less.
- The total volume of inorganic powders must not exceed 350 mL, 350 g per person.
We calculate the restriction on the total container volume for all containers with inorganic powders. You can bring more than one container of inorganic powders, but the total volume of all the containers must be 350 mL or less. You cannot tip powders out to fall under the 350 mL threshold.
You may need to present all powders in your carry-on baggage separately at the screening point. They do not need to be in a re-sealable plastic bag.
Examples of inorganic powders (restrictions apply)
- Salt
- Salt scrub
- Sand
- Some talcum powders
- Some powdered deodorant
- Some foot powders
- Powdered detergent and cleaning products
Examples of organic powders (not restricted)
- Powdered baby formula
- Powdered food
- Coffee
- Protein powder
- Flour
- Spices
- Sugar
- Most cosmetics
- Epsom salt
Liquids, aerosols and gels
The following restrictions apply to all liquids, aerosols and gels:
- Each container must be 100 mL (volume), 100 g (weight) or less.
- All containers must fit in one transparent and re-sealable plastic bag, like a snap-lock sandwich bag.
- The four sides of the bag's sealed area must add up to no more than 80 cm. For example, a bag 20x20 cm or 15x25 cm.
- You can only bring one bag per passenger.
- You can carry bags for people in your care, including children.
All aerosol containers must have a fitted cap, or locking device.
You cannot take containers larger than 100 mL or 100 g, even if they are only partially-filled. For example, you cannot take a 200 g toothpaste tube that is half full.
At the screening point, you may need to present all liquids, aerosols and gels in your carry-on baggage separately for screening.
Some of these items may also be dangerous goods.
Liquids
- Expressed breast milk
- Perfume
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Mouthwash
- Oils
- Vinegar
- Sauces, such as salsa or gravy
- Soups
- Stews
- Salad dressing
- Soft drinks
- Juice
- Bottled water
- Canned food with high liquid content, such as abalone, sardines or tuna
- Creams
- Liquor, such as wine or beer
Aerosols
- Deodorant
- Hairspray
- Sunscreen spray
- Shaving cream
Gels
- Lip gloss
- Hairstyling gels
- Jam
- Yoghurt
- Honey
- Peanut butter
- Cheese spread
- Soft cheese, such as brie or camembert
- Vegemite
- Shaving gel
- Toothpaste
- Gel filled tablets, such as fish oil tablets
If you want to take duty free items in your carry-on baggage, they must be:
- in the sealed tamper-evident bag provided when you bought them
- kept with the relevant proof of purchase.
Anything packed in your carry-on baggage that goes through security screening must meet carry-on baggage requirements. If an item doesn’t meet these requirements, you will not be able to take it through the security point.
Buying duty free items at an airport in Australia
You can take duty free items on board an aircraft if you buy them at the airport after you have gone through security screening. Keep them in the sealed tamper-evident bag provided until you have arrived at your destination. If the seal is broken or items are removed, the items may be subject to Australia’s carry-on baggage restrictions.
Other countries may have different duty free restrictions and requirements for what you can take on board. These will apply even if you are only transiting through the country to get to your final destination.
For example, you may fly from Sydney to London via Singapore. Screening officers at Singapore Airport will assess duty free items that you bought at Sydney Airport to meet Singapore’s restrictions. Singapore Airport’s screening officers will assess them even if the items are still in the sealed plastic bag.
We recommend you find out the duty free restrictions of any countries you will visit or transit through.
Bringing duty free items into Australia
If Australia is your final destination, any duty free items you buy on your way to Australia must meet Australia’s duty free allowances.
Duty free items that you pack in carry-on baggage for your flight into Australia must meet Australia’s carry-on baggage requirements.
For example, you may buy duty free items in London airport when flying from London to Sydney via Singapore. Screening officers will assess the items at the boarding gate in Singapore to meet Australia’s carry-on baggage requirements.
You must also meet these requirements if you are transiting through Australia on your way to another country.
