Home Affairs redeclares Canberra Airport as security-controlled with new boundaries

The Department of Home Affairs has revoked the 2025 declaration of Canberra Airport as a security-controlled airport and re-declared it under new boundaries, in a notice published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 22 October 2026. Notice NTC-31317, made under subsection 28(2) of the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004, also establishes a new airside area for the airport. The instrument commenced upon publication in the Gazette.

Three operative decisions in a single notice

The declaration is signed by Gerome Balangue (Position No: 48000573), a delegate of the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, and is dated 20 October 2026. It is registered in the Government Notices section of the gazette as C2026G00689.

Under subsection 28(2) of the Act, the delegate:

• Revoked notice NTC-28207, which had declared Canberra Airport a security-controlled airport and was published in the Gazette on 1 April 2025 as C2025G00161.
• Declared that Canberra Airport is a security-controlled airport, with its boundaries shown on the map attached to and forming part of the notice.
• Established, in accordance with section 29 of the Act, an airside area for the airport, being the area indicated as the airside area on that same attached map.

Boundaries and airside area defined by map

The notice does not describe the perimeter in text: both the airport boundary and the airside area are defined exclusively by reference to the attached map, which the instrument states forms part of the notice. The practical effect is that the security-controlled boundary and the airside zone for the capital’s airport are now those drawn on the new map, replacing whatever geometry accompanied the 2025 declaration.

The notice states that it remains in force until otherwise revoked in writing and upon subsequent publication in the Gazette, meaning the arrangement has no stated expiry date.

Effective immediately, with no transition period specified

The instrument commences upon publication in the Gazette, so the revocation of NTC-28207 and the new declaration took effect on 22 October 2026. No transition period, grace period or phasing arrangement is set out in the notice.

The same edition of the gazette carried a parallel instrument for another Australian airport: notice NTC-31516, also issued by a delegate of the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs under subsection 28(2) of the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004, revoked notice NTC-19389 for Moranbah Airport — published in the Gazette on 28 August 2020 as C2020G00706 — and re-declared that airport as security-controlled with a new airside area, likewise effective on publication.

What it means for operators and passengers

The redeclaration resets the legal geography of security at Canberra Airport, and with it the obligations that attach to airlines, ground handlers, freight operators and other businesses working on the airport site. Because the boundary and the airside area are now defined by a new map rather than the 2025 version, parties whose premises, aprons or access routes sit near the perimeter should confirm where they fall under the revised layout. For travellers, the change is administrative in form but operational in effect: screening arrangements and access controls at the capital’s airport now rest on NTC-31317 rather than the revoked 2025 notice.

Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. C2026G00689, 22 October 2026, Government Notices (official reference: NTC-31317).