Have you ever wondered what people are talking about when they say ePassport? Well find out why Australia is the leader in development of biometric passport technology and was one of the first countries to introduce an ePassport.

The next generation of Australian passport- “The ePassport’ was introduced on 24 October 2005.

The ePassport is very similar to the previous Australian passport, differing only in having an embedded microchip in the centre page and a gold international ePassport symbol on the front cover.

The chip embedded in the centre pages stores your digitised photograph, name, gender, date of birth, nationality, passport number, and the passport expiry date.

Facial recognition technology is being introduced to coincide with the release of the ePassport. This technology will be used to improve identity verification and reduce identity-related fraud.

The ePassport offers several important advantages over the previous Australian Passport. It:

• Provides greater protection against fraudulent misuse and tampering
• Reduces the risk of identity fraud, currently estimated to cost the Australian economy more than $1 billion each year
• Enhances the protection of Australia's border through speedy and secure verification of incoming Australian passport holders.

The introduction of the ePassport will not affect the validity of your current passport and you will not have to get a new passport until the one you already have expires.

For more information or to apply/renew your passport visit www.passports.gov.au