About us

Smartraveller is for Australians planning to travel, or already travelling or living, overseas.

Our purpose is to help Australians travel overseas safely, reduce their risks and avoid problems.

Explore this page to learn about:

• the Smartraveller website
• Australia's consular services
• the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
• our partnerships

Smartraveller is provided by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The Smartraveller website

The Smartraveller website provides:

• official travel advisories for 177 destinations, with an advice level for each
• a subscription service, for updates to our travel advice
• general advice before you go, on a wide range of travel topics
• general advice for while you're away, especially when things go wrong overseas
• information about Australia's consular services

Our travel advisories

We maintain travel advisories for most countries around the world. We assign an overall advice level to each, based on the level of risk Australians may face there.

Each travel advisory provides destination-specific information and advice about:

• safety issues
• health care and health risks
• local laws
• entry requirements
• local contacts

We keep all our travel advisories under close review. We update each as required. You can subscribe to get an email when we update the advice for your destinations.

Before we update a travel advisory, we consider information and advice from a variety of sources. This includes from our overseas network of embassies, high commissions and consulates. We exchange information and assessments with our consular partners (Canada, New Zealand, the UK and USA). We also receive information from the Australian intelligence community and assessments from the National Threat Assessment Centre in ASIO.

Learn more about our travel advisories. Understand how, when and why we update them. See travel advice explained.

Before you go, read the travel advisory for the destinations you're travelling to, and through.

Advice levels

We assign an overall advice level for each destination. You can find the current level on each destination's travel advisory.

In some destinations, we assign different advice levels for parts of the country to reflect different risks in those areas.

Learn more about how we determine and assign advice levels. See travel advice explained.

Subscription service

We offer a travel advice email subscription service. This is a free service for all Australians.

You can opt in to receive email notifications when we update the travel advice for any destination you subscribe to.

We recommend subscribing before you go. Not just for updates to your main destination, but also places you're travelling, or transiting, through. Subscribe as soon as you start planning your trip. Then, when things change, you'll know promptly.

You can also subscribe for critical updates to travel advisories by providing the phone number of the mobile you are travelling with. These will be sent when we consider there is a major incident or crisis that might impact many Australians.

You can easily unsubscribe, at any time. Most people unsubscribe when they come home and no longer need updates.

Learn more about our travel advice subscription service. 

Our general advice

Before you go

We have advice to help Australians prevent problems before they travel. Our general advice pages cover dozens of travel topics. These relate to:

• the travel basics, such as passports and insurance
• who you are, advice based on age, gender or orientation
• taking care of your health, including vaccinations
• preventing problems with your planned activities
• staying safe and avoiding danger, including natural disasters
• staying within the law, to avoid getting arrested or jailed
• getting around safely

Explore our suite of general advice before you go.

While you're away

Sometimes things don't go as planned when travelling. We've prepared general advice for Australians overseas who need help. Our general advice covers topics relating to:

• what to do when things go wrong
• what happens if you're the victim of a crime
• crises and emergencies
• emergency consular support if you need help

Explore our suite of general advice while you're away.

Australia's consular services

The Australian Government supports Australians overseas through the provision of consular services. We deliver most of our consular services through our embassies and consulates overseas.

Our consular services include:

• crisis response
• consular emergency assistance
• notarial services (document legalisations)
• passport services

Understand how and when we can help. Read the Consular Services Charter.

Explore our range of services for Australian overseas.

About the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) maintains Smartraveller. It also manages our embassies and consulates around the world. Through these, it delivers consular services to Australians.

DFAT is also responsible for Australian passports. It administers and issues travel documents through the Australian Passport Office.

Learn more about DFAT and what it does.

Our partnerships

We work closely with a range of government and not for profit partners to prepare our advice, and to promote Smartraveller. We link to our partners extensively throughout Smartraveller.

Learn more about our partnerships.

Read more

• Learn more about our services.
• Understand how and when we can help overseas. Read the Consular Services Charter.
• Read the travel advisories for the destinations you're travelling to, and through.
• Subscribe any time for updates.
• Understand our advice levels. Read travel advice explained.
• Be informed, be prepared. See our general advice before you go.

See also

• Learn about passports from the Australian Passport Office (DFAT).
• Find an Australian embassy or consulate overseas (DFAT).
• See a list of foreign embassies and consulates in Australia (DFAT).