26 June 2026
Who does this notice affect?
All international aircraft operators and aircraft captains or crew members who may be asked to provide a copy of the aircraft manifest to a biosecurity officer on the aircraft.
What has changed?
The World Health Organization declared the Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 17 May 2026.
Changes have been made to on-board human health screening processes where a potential listed human disease risk is suspected in travellers who have visited Ebola disease risk countries.
A biosecurity officer may request the aircraft manifest from the aircraft captain or another crew member before leaving the aircraft.
- The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has introduced this process to expedite contact tracing in the event of a suspected potential Ebola case.
- Aircraft manifests assist public health authorities to identify passenger seat allocations.
- This process will not impact entry of travellers into Australia.
What you need to do
Aircraft captains or other crew members, who have been asked by a biosecurity officer to provide a copy of the aircraft manifest, should provide it by email or in hard copy before the biosecurity officer leaves the aircraft.
The biosecurity officer will provide email address details: health.ops@health.gov.au to aircraft operators or captains to send the manifest to.
Biosecurity officers may take photographs of the manifest if it cannot be taken off the aircraft.
When providing an aircraft manifest, the captain or another crew member must ensure the manifest includes, at a minimum, the following information for each traveller:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Seat Number
Further information
This information is strictly to support contact tracing to minimise public health risk and will be provided to the relevant jurisdictional health department.
For further information, contact the Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability and Ageing at Humanbiosecurity@health.gov.au.