Sydney and Melbourne Airport are now using controversial full-body scanners, with international travellers being randomly selected for screening — and unable to opt out unless they have a solid medical reason.
Passengers who are selected for a body scan but “refuse to undergo the body scan, and do not have a valid medical or physical condition, will be not permitted to board their flight” Melbourne Airport warns.
The scanners are being rolled out at all of Australia’s major international airports this month and are also operational at Brisbane and Perth. Adelaide, Darwin, Cairns and the Gold Coast will come in the next three weeks.
Yet despite recommendations for “a comprehensive communications strategy” in the official report (download this as a PDF) from 2011 trials of the machines in Sydney and Melbourne, there seems to have been little if any public information campaign from the Government or the respective airports.
