Sydney Airport has installed eight new Australian Border Force (ABF) SmartGate kiosks at the T1 International Terminal, which are intended to boost inbound international passenger processing capacity by 640 travelers per hour. 
The rollout stems from a joint 2024 agreement with the ABF, under the government’s new procurement policy, for Sydney Airport to procure 40 additional SmartGate units, which the ABF will operate.
At a SmartGate kiosk, passengers insert their ePassport, have their photograph taken and respond to on-screen prompts, then proceed through the SmartGate portal, which uses facial-recognition technology to verify their identity. ABF officers are on hand to assist travelers through the process.
The eight new kiosks complement the consolidation of existing SmartGate units into central clusters in Pier B and Pier C. This helped reduce wait times by 10% in Q1 2025 compared to Q4 2024, with 90% of inbound passengers clearing immigration within 36 minutes. More broadly, border processing times have improved by 12 minutes over the past 18 months, with international passenger volumes increasing 14% over the same period.
By early next year, a further 32 new SmartGate kiosks will be deployed across Sydney Airport’s international precinct, doubling the total number of kiosks in the terminal.
The deployment of additional SmartGate kiosks is part of Sydney Airport’s wider capital investment program at the T1 International Terminal, with upgrades to security screening well underway. Seven of 15 new CT scanning lanes are already operational, with the balance to be completed by year-end. The works are anticipated to boost screening capacity by nearly 30% and allow passengers to keep laptops, liquids and aerosols in their carry-on bags.
Read about Sydney’s Terminal 2 upgrade here