What you need to enter Australia with a Canadian passport

Authorization system

Electronic Travel Authority (ETA, subclass 601)

Can only be applied for through the official "AustralianETA" app (Apple/Google) — the Australian government no longer accepts web applications for this category. Valid for 12 months from approval, multiple entries, up to 3 months' stay per visit. Typically resolved in under 24 hours.

Visa, e-Visa, or electronic authorization? What's the difference →

Fee

AUD 20.00

There's no Visa Application Charge as such, but there is a non-refundable AUD 20 service fee for using the official app — also confirmed by the Australian High Commission in Malaysia (official .gov.au subdomain).

Processing time

Usually resolved within 24 hours of applying through the app.

Required documents

• A valid passport. The Department strongly recommends at least 6 months of validity, though it does not set it as an absolute requirement
• Evidence of sufficient funds to support yourself during the stay: the Department works from a reference figure of around AUD 5,000
• Evidence of sufficient funds to pay for a return or onward ticket, separately from the money supporting you in the country
• Evidence that you intend to return to your home country or usual country of residence at the end of the visit

Vaccinations

• No mandatory vaccines for general entry. A yellow fever certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from —or having transited more than 12 hours through the airport of— a country with risk of transmission, not counting the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), the island of Tobago or Misiones province in Argentina.

Health insurance

Not mandatory for this destination.

Transit rules

ETA valid for 12 months from approval, multiple entries; maximum stay of 3 months per individual visit.

Customs limits

Cash

Carrying AUD 10,000 or more (or the foreign equivalent) is legal but must be declared.

Alcohol

2.25 litres of alcohol duty-free per person aged 18 or over (families travelling together can pool their individual allowances).

Tobacco

One unopened packet of up to 25 cigarettes (or 25g of other tobacco products), plus one open packet of cigarettes, duty-free, only for those aged 18 or over.

Overstay penalties

Staying in Australia without a valid visa is unlawful: you become an "unlawful non-citizen", a status that covers both those who stay on after their visa expires and those whose visa has been cancelled. If you leave the country having been without a valid visa for more than 28 days, the Department can refuse you any further visa for an exclusion period of up to 3 years, except in limited circumstances. In some cases the exclusion is permanent.

Common reasons for denial

• Failing to show sufficient funds to support yourself during the stay and to pay for your departure ticket.
• Failing to satisfy the Department that you intend to return home at the end of the visit.
• Carrying an exclusion period from having previously been in Australia without a valid visa for more than 28 days.