Australia's passport is stupidly overpriced for some pretty basic tech

For $400, you can get a pretty decent (though not mind-blowing) cheap smartphone. You could get a pair of AirPods Pro, which will soon double as a hearing aid.

Or, you could renew your Australian passport.

David Flynn over at Executive Traveller – who incidentally has forgotten more than I will ever know about international travel – covered the latest passport price increase earlier this week.

As of January 1, the price of an Australian passport jumped from $398 to $412. This increase is reportedly in line with legislation and the Consumer Price Index.

The Australian passport was already the world's most expensive passport following a $50 price hike in the middle of last year. That price increase was to raise funds to cover the increased cost of producing the newer high-tech "R-series" passport.

First introduced in September 2022, the R-series passport is pretty cool, with a number of anti-fraud technologies to help ensure keep identities safe.

But it's still just a passport. How can it possibly justify the $412 price tag?

It can't.

While the R-series has some cool tech, there are plenty of other countries with advanced security tech inside them that cost a fraction of the price. For comparison, the second most expensive passport is Mexico's, which costs about $353 for a 10 year renewal, according to the ABC.

Even New Zealand, which is the fourth most expensive in the world (as per that ABC article), is less than half the price at about $193.

In its statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade claimed that one of the reasons for the cost is the "visa-free access to over 180 countries". But comparatively, this doesn't stack up either, given there are a number of international passports that offer more visa-free travel countries, yet cost a lot less.

So what's so special about the R series passport anyway?

The vast majority of the technology inside the passport is to help prevent fraud.

The photo page is made from polycarbonate, rather than laminated paper. This is designed to be more robust, so it won't tear and create troubles when crossing borders.

But there are a few other features added in there, including a raised map of Australia over the photo, a transparent window with a second coloured photo and another window, which houses the antenna for the ePassport RFID chip.

There are additional security features throughout the rest of the passport as well. Under UV light, you'll see the unique Australian landscape of each page turn into a nightscape, with custom artwork and native animals appearing.

But that's pretty much it. From a user's perspective, the only real advantage of this tech is the RFID chip for the ePassport, which can help speed up the process of getting through customs.

Passive RFID chips are cheap though, so it's not like having that chip adds a huge cost to the physical product, though I'm sure the manpower to program it needs to be factored in.

What all that expense doesn't get you is faster access to your passport – you still need to wait a minimum of six weeks to get your passport, unless you pay an extra $100 to get that sped up to five business days.

And despite the steep price tag, there are still reports that the cover is prone to curling at the edges.

So for the prize of having the most expensive passport in the world, it's really hard to see how the cost is justified.

Other things you could buy for $412

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I know it's not comparing apples with apples, but here's a list of really cool tech things you could buy with $412 if you didn't have spend that much on renewing your passport.

• Apple AirPods Pro 2 - $399
• PlayStation Portal - $329
• Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition - $329
• Nintendo Switch Light Hyrule Edition - $339.95
• 4-pack of Apple AirTags - $165
• De'Longhi Nespresso Vertuo Next with Aeroccino - $389