Was reading an article on the backscatter scanners machines used in America and was stunned to read:
The body scanners, due to be rolled out across Australian airports next year, ....
Say what????
[Update]Found this article from November 9th
Full-body scanners will be introduced at international airports in Australia from early next year as part of the Federal Government's $200 million plan to boost aviation security.
Captain Woodward says there are no moves for a similar boycott here.
Instead he says AIPA will continue to work with the Government to address safety concerns.
"We're going to work closely with the security authorities from the Federal Government to see what sort of imaging equipment they want to put in and use," he said.
"We certainly have our preference for non-ionising radiation type of equipment. So we have had preliminary talks with the security authorities and we'll continue that."
A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says the technology to be introduced in Australia will be more advanced than the machines used in the US.
She says safety checks will be carried out on all equipment by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.
From here.[/UPDATE]
[UPDATE 2]Apparently there were trials at Australian airports ...
In the six-week Australian trial, from October 15 to November 28, 2008, almost 70,000 travellers volunteered for full-body security scans at Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide airports, with Deakin University's Intelligent Systems Laboratory helping with data collection and modelling....
The results of the trial were:
The body scan trial
Melbourne Airport
Scanner: Rapiscan Secure 1000 (back-scatter x-ray)
?Used for secondary screening only
?32,011 passengers volunteered (22% of all passengers at the screening point)
? 1,078 passengers were imaged
?48% felt the process was as fast as the standard process
?58% felt it was no better or worse than the standard process
?34% felt it was better.
Sydney Airport
Scanner: AS&E SmartCheck (back-scatter x-ray)
?Used for secondary screening only
?28,422 passengers volunteered, (22% of all passengers at the screening point)
?3,227 passengers were imaged.
?48% felt the process was faster than the standard process.
?60% felt it was better than the standard process
?36% felt it was no better or worse.
Adelaide Airport
Scanner: L-3 ProVision (millimetre radio waves)
?Used for a primary screening
?8,536 passengers volunteered and were imaged
?61% felt the process was slower than the standard process.
?44% felt it was no better or worse than the standard process
?42% felt it was better.
SOURCE: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government[/UPDATE2]
2 comments:
Hmmm, yes, did a quick Google search and found quite a few references around our Aussie news sites. Most of them, like the link you posted are quick passing mentions of the roll-out. I had no idea until you mentioned it.
Oh damn... bad enough I get it up here, now I've gotta go get it there? I flew through Sydney in 2008 and NEVER saw them.
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