Consular State of Play 2023–24 launch

The Consular State of Play 2023-24 tells the story of the 15,200 cases in which Australians who have encountered difficulties overseas were provided consular assistance by officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the last financial year.

But the best way to tell the story of what this work means is through the words of the Australians who have relied on DFAT’s consular officials in their most desperate times.

Take these comments by Australians who we assisted to leave the conflict in Lebanon:

"The things the Australian government did for us, nobody in the world would do."

"I can't describe, I can't get the words to thank the Australian Government for doing this thing for us."

“I have to give all credit to all the DFAT staff, all the embassy staff, they were extremely helpful, extremely understanding, very polite and they did everything they could to help.”

So the statistics in this Consular State of Play report are a measure of how hard DFAT consular officials have been working over the last year

Indeed, DFAT officials have assisted more than 6000 Australians and their family members affected by conflict in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as well as civil unrest in New Caledonia.

But these statistics alone can’t tell you the sense of relief that Australians feel when they see the canary yellow vests of Australian consular officials through a crowd in a crisis situation.

They can’t tell you the sense of reassurance Australians felt when they arrived at Beirut airport for a flight to safety and encountered a check in desk wrapped in Australian flags, flanked by giant cardboard cut-out Kangaroos and staffed by DFAT officials.

And they can’t tell you the sense of belonging an Australian family felt when a child was personally presented with a new passport by Australia’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Andrew Barnes, along with a soft Koala toy as company for the journey to safety.

And for me, that’s what consular work is really about – it’s about what it means to be Australian.

It’s about what we owe to each other as Australians when trouble happens overseas.

Australia is a country where half of us are born overseas or have a parent born overseas.

We’re a people who are intensely connected with every corner of the world.

In good times, this is a source of influence and insight for our engagement with the world.

But it also means that when a crisis occurs, anywhere in the world, odds are that Australians will be affected.

As Ian Kemish, the former head of the Consular service in DFAT put it in his book The Consul, if a plane went down between Tashkent and Vladivostok there would almost certainly be an Australian on board.

While there are more than a million Australians overseas at any point in time, wherever they are in the world, being Australian means something.

It means that if you get into difficulty overseas, your fellow Australians will do what they can to help - it means the Australian government will do what it can to help.

Even if you’ve made some mistakes along the way (as we are all wont to do).

As the Foreign Minister recently said, 'people are Australian citizens even if they make mistakes'.

Yet, there are real, practical limits to the consular assistance that the Australian government can provide in some circumstances.

We do not have a diplomatic presence in every country in the world, and there are some areas and situations that are so dangerous that we may not be able to help.

This is why we implore Australians to heed the advice provided through the Smartraveller website.

When Smartraveller warns Australians 'Do Not Travel' we’re saying that area or situation is high risk and the provision of consular assistance may be impossible.

Similarly, we’ve long been clear that the Australian government can’t pay for people’s medical expenses overseas or if worst came to worst, for the repatriation of bodies.

We’ve also said that we can’t interfere in the legal systems and processes of other countries, just as other countries can’t interfere in ours.

But beyond this, where we can, we will do what we can, to assist Australians in need.

Recently, some have questioned the Australian government for this approach.

So I want to use this occasion to be clear – the Albanese Government won’t just abandon Australians who come into difficulty overseas.

The importance of our consular officials and the work they do has never been more evident than in the past year.

In 2023-24 the Australian Government assisted 6,160 crisis response cases.

Two recent crisis responses particularly highlight the importance the Albanese Government places on assisting Australians in difficulty overseas – our Lebanon crisis response and our New Caledonia crisis response.

All Australians will have seen the relieved faces of Australians returning to Australia from the conflict in Lebanon.

In total, the Australian Government has organised 32 assisted-departure flights for 3,409 Australians and their immediate family members to depart the conflict in Lebanon and return to Australia.

The DFAT’s Crisis Centre for the Middle East Regional Conflict was staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support this effort.

The staff in the Crisis Centre working tirelessly to help hundreds of Australians and their families out of harm’s way, from Beirut to Cyprus and back to Australia.

It was an extremely challenging task to coordinate the movement of hundreds of Australians out of a conflict zone and across the globe:

• reaching out and urging Australians and their families in Lebanon to leave
• working with airlines to urgently charter flights in anticipation of Beirut airport being forced to close without notice
• assisting people to safely and smoothly board their assisted departure flights on the ground at Beirut airport
• liaising with local authorities for approvals and to ensure the security of Australians at the airport
• providing food, accommodation and medical assistance to Australians and their families arriving from Lebanon into Larnaka Airport in Cyprus
• facilitating communications for Australians and their families so they could touch base with their loved ones to let them know that they were on their way home to Australia
• arranging onward flights back to Australia
• and working with other agencies to support our Australians and their families upon their arrival back in Australia.

I’ve visited our embassies in Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan and seen firsthand the thorough planning and preparation Australian officials do for consular crisis situations.

I have seen the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes from start to finish.

From planning for all sorts of crises and contingencies, to the urgent work our officials do to implement those plans, to make the happy outcomes we’ve seen at our airports a reality.

I want to take this occasion to again thank them for all of their work.

I want to particularly thank Ambassador Andrew Barnes and his outstanding team in the Australian Embassy in Lebanon both for their hard work and for the care and attention they gave to Australians in need.

It was a similar story when civil unrest broke out in New Caledonia earlier this year.

The Australian Government took swift action to assist 454 Australians, permanent residents and their family members to leave New Caledonia.

Behind the 12 assisted departure flights, including eight Australian Defence Force operated flights, were nearly 200 staff from DFAT.

These officials were on the ground in New Caledonia answering calls from distressed family members, coordinating flights, liaising with partner governments or providing Australians with updates on the situation.

Hundreds of calls were made by consular officers to confirm the welfare and discuss the concerns of those caught-up in the civil unrest and help inform family and friends back in Australia.

An Australian was in Noumea travelling for work when the civil unrest broke out.

When the news of the situation hit Australia, their family was unable to contact them, so they reached out to DFAT for advice and assistance.

With the help of consular staff in New Caledonia and Australia, the Australian was found and, eventually, able to get out of Noumea and back to Australia – a huge relief for the whole family.

I want to thank our Consul-General in New Caledonia, Annelise Young and our team on the ground for their extraordinary efforts in challenging circumstances during this crisis.

Now, our consular officials do not just assist Australians and their families in international crises.

Mr Speaker, overseas travel is engrained in Australians’ psyche.

Australians are everywhere, and we are back to travelling overseas in droves.

COVID temporarily pressed paused on our overseas travels, but Australian departures are now back to where they were in 2018-19 before the pandemic.

Regardless of if you’re a seasoned traveller or it’s your first time, things can go wrong when you’re overseas.

All Australian travellers should make Smartraveller their first destination for travel advice on issues like your destination’s security situation, local laws and customs and entry advice.

An Australian, on their way to Singapore, ignored the signs and chose to vape in the bathroom on their flight.

They were placed in 5-day administrative detention.

In this instance, DFAT was able to help get them in touch with local lawyers who assisted them through the very difficult process of navigating the Singaporean justice system – where vaping is illegal.

This was one of 865 consular cases involving an arrest in 2023-24.

When you are travelling overseas, you’re subject to the laws of the country you’re in, even if they appear harsh when compared to Australia.

Visiting the Smartraveller website and knowing the local laws of the country you’re visiting before your travel, can help keep you out of trouble.

An Australian returned home with a criminal record when they played a prank on a mate in Croatia.

In what was intended to be ‘a bit of fun’, they used their friend’s credit card.

The credit card was reported stolen to the local police, the Australian was identified as the culprit and charged.

Every consular situation is different.

And Australian consular officials around the world prepare for all sorts of difficulties and crises.

Last financial year there were 1,356 cases of illness or hospitalisation - an increase of 21 per cent on 2022–23.

One Australian suddenly took ill when they arrived in Kuwait and was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.

Unable to speak the local language and not knowing the local area, their family back in Australia reached out to the Australian Government for help.

An Australian Consular Official in Kuwait was able to visit the Australian in hospital, saw what was happening and then explained what was happening to the family back home.

They also helped with communicating with hospital staff.

Like most healthcare facilities in Kuwait, the Australian was expected to pay for services in advance.

Thankfully, they had comprehensive travel insurance which was able to help cover the costs of the urgent medical care.

Cases like these highlight the importance of getting travel insurance, but it’s also important that the travel insurance is right for your trip and you’ve read the fine print.

Sadly our officials have seen many instances, far too many, where people jump on a motorbike or a scooter overseas, sometimes without a helmet, and get injured.

That’s why time and time again, we tell Australians that travel insurance is as important as a passport.

Sometimes they don’t realise their insurance doesn’t cover riding a motorcycle, maybe they don’t have a motorbike license, or have alcohol in their system which can void their travel insurance altogether.

These people face high hospital bills – upwards of $A50,000 – or the even higher cost of a medivac.

A particularly important reminder for Australia’s young people as they head overseas for the end of the school year.

DFAT’s work isn’t just about stepping up to help when things go wrong – it’s also about stepping in early, arming travellers with information to help stay safe before they leave Australia.

Smartraveller is a practical resource, with lots of useful information, including about health and safety overseas.

I urge Australians to do their research and visit Smartraveller.

It’s a great guide for parents, who may be worried and are keen to talk to their kids who might be heading abroad.

In 2023-24 there were 9,067 consular cases, an increase of 7 per cent, compared to the previous financial year (excluding crisis support cases).

At any one time, the Australian Government is supporting approximately 1,422 active consular cases around the world.

The Consular Emergency Centre received 53,137 calls – or one call every 10 minutes from Australians and their loved ones.

Each year, the Australian Government provides consular services and crisis assistance to thousands of Australians overseas.

Behind every case is the story of a person in need.

A person who reached out for and was assisted by the dedicated consular service staff here in Canberra, in the emergency call centre, and posted to embassies and missions around the world.

I’d like to personally thank the staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and our consular officials at our overseas missions for all the extraordinary and tough work they do on behalf of Australians to help them when things go wrong.

By its very nature, this sort of work often comes out of the blue, with travellers surprised by things that have gone wrong or plans that have fallen apart, and I know our consular officials spend countless hours trying to help them, often in very difficult circumstances themselves.

These are dedicated Australians going above and beyond to assist their fellow Australians in their times of need.

In my role, I’ve come to know the way our consular officials go about their work.

They’re a famously unique breed.

None of them do it for thanks or recognition – but they deserve it.

So on behalf of thousands of Australians who have relied on the work of Australian consular officials this year, I say to our consular officials – thank you.

And on behalf of the Australian government, I say that we see your work, we appreciate it, and we’ll continue to support your efforts to keep Australians safe, overseas.