The Sunshine Coast Airport is among airports ordered to review security after a teenager allegedly tried to board a plane at Avalon while armed with a shotgun and knives.
The incident on March 6 shone a light on security at the Victorian airport, which is 10km from the nearest police station and does not have a permanent Australian Federal Police presence.
The Home Affairs department has contacted the operators of all of security-controlled airports in Australia, requiring them to each complete a security risk assessment.
Security-controlled airports are tiered according to the number of flights and passengers, and are required to have various safety procedures.
The Sunshine Coast Airport is a tier-two security-controlled airport.
Like Avalon, a tier-three security-controlled airport, the Sunshine Coast Airport – which has international flights – has no permanent state or federal police presence.
The nearest police stations to the Sunshine Coast Airport are 8km away at Coolum and 10km away at Maroochydore.
There are Australian Federal Police offices in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Cairns, and officers working at those airports, which are tier-one security-controlled airports.
A Home Affairs spokesperson said that for security reasons, the department did not discuss security arrangements at individual airports nor provide more detail on the security risk assessments.
Sunshine Coast Airport general manager – operations Katie McCreery-Carr said the airport could not discuss details of specific security measures and arrangements because it could compromise security.
However, she said security arrangements at the airport were paramount.
“Sunshine Coast Airport meets the strict safety requirements set by the federal government’s Department of Home Affairs and we work closely with government agencies on all necessary security measures,” Ms McCreery-Carr said.
“Sunshine Coast Airport has also installed new passenger screening equipment in December last year.
“This new equipment enhances threat detection, improves the screening process for passengers and aligns with the federal government’s mandate to enhance aviation security.”
Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana said the provisioning of AFP resources should be part of any airport security assessments.
Mr Caruana said it was time for a review of what the AFP did well, and where resources were needed, including at second-tier airports.
“When it comes down to the airports, I think certainly someone has to do a risk assessment of sites and it would be good if that formed part of a bigger review of the AFP,” he said.
