As announced in 7 News, the cost of a 10-year Australian passport will rise from $398 to $412 on the first day of 2025
Shamelessly copied title from the previous deal post
Mod Note: Must also lodge by 31/12, not just apply, see here.
$398 Passport Renewal Fee: Apply Online & Lodge by 31/12/24 (Price Increase from 1/1/25) @ Australian Passport Office
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BargainsGrabber on 30/12/2024 - 20:31 passports.gov.au (1950 clicks)
Last edited 31/12/2024 - 10:19 by 1 other user
Last edited 31/12/2024 - 10:19 by 1 other user
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Im curious to think how a passport cost reduction would reduce "cost of living"…..
I travel a lot for work and holidays so I just renewed but I do not see it as something that would be a huge concern to the average Australian? If i average out the price increase its $5 a year….
I think an average Australian is more likely to have a passport than not have one. Any cost reduction is a reduction.
55% of us have a valid passport today, that's the number as of August this year.
@seamonkey: Yes but my point stands, if you cant pay an extra $5 per YEAR how can you afford holidays overseas.
Seems someone negged then the rest followed.@XCelR8: You can save a lot of money by not having a passport and not going overseas. You don't need a passport to live in Australia as citizen.
@XCelR8: Your comment is so misleading. It really depends on what you paid for. Decent service or product? No problem. A valid ID for a few years? $500 is just too much, especially considering that the US the UK etc can do a much cheaper price.
especially considering that the US the UK etc can do a much cheaper price.
India and China are about $25 for 10 years
The UAE is about the same price but only 5 years
The USA is not substantially cheaper, it's around $260 for 10 years and something like the 3rd most expensive in the world.
@XCelR8: I agree with you but also can see the other side where all the small costs add up and rarely if every once the price has increased does it go down.
Coffee used to be 3-4 now it's 5-6. Bread used to be like 2-3 now it's 5-6, Auspost stamps used to be 1$, if now 1.5 and about to be 1.70 like sure if you look at things individually it doesnt seem much but when everything is doing up by a tiny bit and your salary doesnt go up I can see why people are annoyed becuase it's just another point on the graph where it's gone up in price again.
@alteyez: I appreciate your comparisons, but playing devil's advocate - should coffee cost $3-4? Who is turning a profit if bread is $2-3 a loaf? AusPost are habitually losing money on letter post and if someone really must send an article via snail mail maybe $1.70 isn't that bad for a process that involves manual labour.
I agree, salaries don't increase by the same amount however if we want people to earn a fair wage some prices do need to rise. The owners of my local coffee shop with excellent service and the best coffee around don't even live within 20km of their own shop as it wouldn't be affordable. If a $6 coffee helps them and their staff survive, I can't complain. I have started making more coffee at home and that helps me justify the $6+ coffee on the occasion I do go
@cyssero: You're thinking that prices are set by honest working people and not the big conglomerates who are trying to squeeze every little bit at every level. Technology has improved our efficiency across the board, we have self check outs but prices won't go down because people got accustomed to it and even have people defending it.
Letters are a lost leader now but it used to be very profitable. Reason why it's losing money now is because back in the day stamps used to cost 0.50 and even cheaper for businesses if in bulk so was cheap enough that business used them. Some exec decided to up the price, intro tier structure…etc because of profits so businesses started to push to electronic. Then they made it even worse when they lowered thickness of letters which killed cheap shipping for small items that people used to buy. Then Auspost has been continuously increasing prices to become profitable again which makes the problem worse. Using a bus analogy it's better to have cheaper fares to fill up the entire bus and make your rounds than to have expensive fares and only a few on the bus.
@XCelR8: It's not the extra $5 part. It's the $412 part that makes people concerned.
Using your logic, how about an extra $4000, per year? or $40 grand?
"you shouldn't be going overseas if you can't stomach a few extra grand". Are you too poor to pay it? Maybe poor people need to stay at home and only rich folks should have fun?
@XCelR8: Its not whether someone can afford it or not, its that every extra amount matters. Thats how cost of living is. Its not one item , its all the items put together. Going overseas / holidays is a huge mental health benefit. I find its the only thing that keeps me sane from work. When i travel inside Australia (albeit its cheaper to go overseas for a week in Asia than travel for 1 week in Australia), I find since i am still in australia, my mind doesnt leave work as much as if i go overseas where it feels like i am in a totally different environment and work doesnt come into my mind as easily.
@XCelR8: This concept is like the old saying poor people don't drive. Most people have relatives and families overseas that we need to visit not because of holidays therefore this fee increase is a tax itself
It all adds up. Everything in life increases by 3-4%. Your cost of living is increased by 3-4%, except your wage.
yes but unlike a packet of frozen chips, you only buy this every 10 years, not every other week. 19% in a year is pretty disgraceful, but the alcohol & tobacco tax is so much worse. K.rudd's alcopop tax really is thenworet.
The price of potatoes has come back down to pre-covid levels. the price of potato chips, frozen fries, and other potato products have stayed at 100-200% higher than pre-covid levels. I think we should be cranky at the supermarkets and the food manufacturers/wholesalers. This anger at the government is totally misplaced. A cynical person like myself would suggest it's just propaganda from News corp and the opposition.
@M00Cow: Howard government, 1st July 2000.
The stupid con with is, distributors, and retailers pay GST when they buy stock, then the customers pay GST again when they buy from they seller…… Classic Liberal double dip.
@tunzafun001: I stopped buying them. $3 when it's half price is ridiculous. Fat Aussie consumers won't join me because they have no will power
@maddoglee: Well I'm also onboard.
I pivoted to rice crackers (89c per 100g) - which sadly just went up to $1.
Or
Eton Crackers from Aldi (basically Jatz Crackers). $1.35 per 200g box.
I only buy chips when the big Party bags 380g hit $4.
PS. *CCS's are "Half price " this week at Woolies for $3….what a joke …like CCs are $6 a bag normally!
@M00Cow: The government is in control of the legislation to change all things and could mandate the price of a packet of frozen chips if it wanted to….
@timpo: no, the Govt can introduce legislation into the lower house where they have the majority, and thus pass it. They don't have control over the upper house…of course the opposition would vote for rather unusual legislation to control the price of potato goods.
@M00Cow: Unless you are a dual citizen you can only purchase a passport from the Australian government. The Australian government has a monopoly on Australian passports. It is very hard to become a citizen of a different country, it is comparatively easy to buy a different brand of potato chip.
rents have increased much more, that is a big weekly hit, groceries you can buy when on special or aldi vs cole’s vs woolies prices, but rents you can’t shop around much and move too far and your kids are in different school zone.
That's a reasonable take on the price rise. $398 is expensive in itself… $412 isn't very different.
Not so much about the increase itself but the show of an attitude. You can't be putting out the fire with a cigarette in hand.
I like the Coca Cola x Pepsi analogy. It's exactly the sorry state of affairs we are in.
cost of living crisis
record black friday and boxing day sales
“ohh everyone saving money for sales that why!!” my ass thats a weak excuse
yep ..
The govt wants people to spend rather than save.
That's assuming everyone is in the same boat and there's not a two tier economy. As an older home-owner with a relatively small mortgage, I and others in a similar position typically have a lot more disposable income than, for example, renters or people who've just recently bought homes. The presence of one group does not stop another from existing.
I laugh at people who cry that 'everyone is struggling!! we need xyz!' compared to most countries in the world we are fine, you havent seen true poverty if you havent been to one of those countries.
A lot of people's savings shrunk obviously but they also spend lavishly, sometimes even maxing out Credit cards they might not pay back. Grown adults need to control themselves.
@Freestyle: my fav is the media banging on about the high price of mortgage rates, some even claim they're the highest since the 90's. Pigs of course i had fixed rate of 7.19% & variable of 6.59% in the early 2010's. we did this crazy thing of buying something we could afford & living within our means. Even with a single income we paid it off.
of course if the govts (both side would agree) would remove negative gearing on more then 2 houses and abolish it totally on all holiday rentals, then we might even see house pricing drop & stay lower. But then that would affect 3/4 of federal politicians, so won't happen.
@M00Cow: every time they touch negative gearing all the boomers bitch because people want to take away the loophole they exploited
its not just politicians I distincty remember last time people were doing the American thing and fear mongering that the govt will take our homes next
on 7 news there was one segment on the cost of living crisis next story was about a hotel luxury business for pets that is completely booked out.
I will put money that the people going to that hotel is also bitching about cost of living
Isn’t it good policy to disincentivise travelling overseas? Force people to spend their munny here instead.
An increase of 19% in less than 12 months for a passport that is the world's most expensive, and also the most flimsy…..
Also, a link to my previous comment as a former Aus Post employee, do not come in for a passport application anytime after 4 pm.
Please do not come in for a passport application anytime after 4 pm. They take at least 30 minutes to lodge (photos, reviewing etc), and if there are multiple people in your group it'll take longer. From 5 pm to 6 pm is our hectic hour with parcels and the rest of it. Likely if you come in after 5 pm, the staff will refuse. Please be kind, we are under immense pressure and must triple-check it before we lodge it to ensure it is legible.
None of this sounds like a customer problem. Sounds like AusPost needs to hire more staff or make it an official requirement to place restrictions on when passports can be done in store. Doesn’t sound like something staff should be “refusing” to do.
this is the post office taking a reservation but not being able to fulfill the reservation
this is an Aust Post problem
Yep. Would be like a restaurant taking a reservation but then refusing to take an order for a steak because it would take to long to cook and the chef is busy.
It’s a customer facing customer service job. They need to provide a service to the customer.
I don’t know what it is about Aus Post stores that fosters the culture that the entire world needs to work around them. People have jobs. After 4pm might be the only time that works for them.
I once got turned away from entering a post office 15 minutes before they closed to pick up a parcel because “they were too busy”. WTF. What other business would think they can do that.
Many many years ago I worked at a restaurant. We had customers turn up minutes before close. The kitchen was turned off and cleaned. But we couldn’t turn them away and had to cook their meals.
Aus Post exists in a different universe.
@PainToad: Right, but you shouldn't take your frustration out on the front of house staff at the restaurant, should you? You should take it out on the owners and managers, who are ultimately responsible for overbooking or underdelivering. You leave a bad review. You tell your friends. You don't go there again.
There is no amorphous "they" - just because someone works at Australia Post doesn't mean they're responsible for the disorganised state of the company.
You're not entitled to anything in this life, and you're certainly not entitled to make front line staff's lives even more of a misery just because you're unhappy with the state of the world.
Many many years ago I worked at a restaurant. We had customers turn up minutes before close. The kitchen was turned off and cleaned. But we couldn’t turn them away and had to cook their meals.
Did you get paid overtime? If you did - that's the owners business decision to take the extra sale, it's very reasonable for a restaurant to refuse new customers close to close.
That doesn't mean a post office should be allowed to. They should be paid to stay open as an essential service
Many many years ago I worked at a restaurant. We had customers turn up minutes before close. The kitchen was turned off and cleaned. But we couldn’t turn them away and had to cook their meals.
Damn, you had a really crappy owner of that restaurant. You should've been able to tell the customers that the kitchen has closed and you're only doing drinks.
@PainToad: Yes, a universe where all the Australia Post Senior Managers wear shiny new luxury Cartier watches.
I mean. A lot of Aus Post's services seem to be a major and somehow unexpected problem for them.
All they know how to do is clog up the stores with useless printers no one would ever buy, and staff that cant speak english.
this is an Aust Post problem
No it isn't.
It's a problem of the specific post office.
A lot do. Every passport application I've ever completed I had to make an appointment. Some allow walk-ins within certain timeframes. I'm not aware of ones that just have it open slather for walk-ins but YMMV I guess.
An increase of 19% in less than 12 months
Yes that's disgraceful.
for a passport that is the world's most expensive.
Is it really though? evidence?
Geez same quality news organisations ran this article
https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/worlds-most-expensive-pass…https://www.afghanembassy.au/consular-affairs/passport.html
Afghanistan
PASSPORT FEE: The fee for one passport with the duration of 10 years is AU$ 560
https://www.general-security.gov.lb/en/posts/91
Lebanon 3yr passport
18,000,000
or au$322then there's Afghanistan, Syria, Cuba, Lichtenstein
@M00Cow: That’s the price of an Afghani passport issued in Australia. You’re not comparing apples to apples. In Afghanistan, passports cost AFD10,000, or around $260.
The Australian passport is the most expensive in the world. Not sure why you feel the need to argue
An increase of 19% in less than 12 months for a passport that is the world's most expensive
I got my passport in 2017, for about $410.
The passport has a 64-pages, which the FedGov has "discontinued" from around 2019 (?), and opted for 32-pages with an ever annually increasing renewal price.
(The 32-page one at that time, was around $280, from memory )
weird. My 2008 Passport is 34 pages. My 2018 passport is 42 pages.
I'll keep it on mind the next time I renew. Good to know and I'm happy to help
If you can’t afford paying a few bucks more on something that lasts 10 years how are you even affording to use the passport? The fact the media is even reporting on a $14 price increase on something that is only paid every decade is a joke.
Housing and food - those are things that have skyrocketed and are actually essentials people need everyday.
but… but… the outrage?
The period between Christmas and New Years where the media gets desperate for news stories and controversy.
Well it's already the most expensive passport in the world.
@Ivegottheskill: https://www.general-security.gov.lb/en/posts/91
Lebanon 3yr passport
18,000,000
or au$322then there's Afghanistan, Syria, Cuba, Lichtenstein
But hey someone put it in the internet so it must be true!
Why are you dying on this hill?
somebody's got to pay for all that ScoMo, Dutton, Friedenberg, Taylor, Barnaby Jobkeeper which companies pocketed.
https://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/biggest-jobkeeper-re…
I myself are rather happy to pay an extra $14 to keep Crown Casino & Star Casino afloat
Even $5000 is only $500 a year, so why not?
should increase it more by your logic, if you cant handle a $100 increase how can you go on a holiday
Well with your logic, every business should be allowed to increase price such as clothes, cars and even houses etc
You will wear clothes for few years and cars and house will be there for many more years, so why negotiate or complain just pay what the seller the price they are asking and just divide it over the life of the product and every increase will look negligible.
Plenty of people have family overseas and need to hold a passport in case any emergencies arise. Also, something like a holiday to NZ or south east Asia could be cost effective. And by your reasoning, should the passport be $10000? I mean if you can't afford that you shouldn't be travelling, right?
I’d say the limit is $1000
Not really a bargain sorry, belongs in forums
If you can afford to travel overseas, you can afford an extra ~$1 per year of passport.
It's a PSA, but it will save me $14 since my passport is expiring soon and I was unaware of the impending price increase.
The saving equates to $1.40/year over the life of the passport. Ummm yay I guess.
It's an instant $14 saving though, not over 10 years.
If its laughable to you, then feel free to send me $14.
Technically 9.5 years, many countries will reject your entry when passport expiry in 6 months, if not in a hurry just make one before you go to maximise the lifespan will save you more than merely $14.
@dlovep: Yep - I am going overseas this year and while my passport will be valid for the entire trip, it will expire a month after.
New passport it is! Not enough time for me to make $14 in savings though…
@krunchymoses: I hope they allow you on the plane!
My brother in law had a passport expiring in 5 months but when he arrived at Darwin Airport for a two week trip to Bali the airline refused to check him in, explaining that he would be denied entry if he arrived in Indonesia with a passport with less than 6 months of validity.
the airline refused to check him in, explaining that he would be denied entry if he arrived in Indonesia with a passport with less than 6 months of validity.
that's standard practice pretty much everywhere. Most countries won't let you in with less then 6mth expiry in your passport and the airline then is responsible for sending you home & possibly a fee/fine (I can't remember). not so bad if you're an aussie being sent back from indo, but say a Brazilian going from Australia -> Indo they're supposed to send you back to Brazil. They could try Oz, but if they won't have you then they need to some how get you back to Brazil. anyway airlines err on the side of caution and pocket you're fare.
@dlovep: Also you can renew up to 2 years after expiry, but also the price will have risen during those 2 years.
Requested to move to forum, thanks
There has been 2 increases this year already including an abnormal mid year jump.
Albo (Coca Cola) can’t complain that the govt doesn’t contribute to “cost of living” pressures. And yeah - the same would be the case if Pepsi was in power.