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Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 Citation change

In force Administered by
- Department of Home Affairs
This item is authorised by the following title:

• Customs Act 1901 Latest version View as made version F2026C00277 C146 26 March 2026 This instrument was backcaptured in accordance with Section 36 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003

View document Legislative instrument Filter active Table of contents
- 1 Name of Regulations
- 2 Interpretation
- 3 Goods the importation of which is prohibited absolutely
- 3AA Importation of devices and documents relating to suicide
- 3A Criteria for the purposes of provisions of regulations 4F and 4H relating to defence forces of certain overseas countries.
- 3C Criteria for the purposes of provisions of regulations 4F and 4H relating to air security officers
- 3D Criteria for regulations 4F and 4H—transhipment of firearms and weapons etc. to a foreign country
- 3E Criteria for regulation 4F—importation of firearms and related items used overseas in lawful shooting competitions, or lawful hunting activities
- 3F Criteria for regulation 4H—Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty
- 4 Goods the importation of which is prohibited unless conditions or restrictions are complied with
- 4A Importation of objectionable goods
- 4AA Importation of plastic explosives
- 4AB Importation of polychlorinated biphenyls, terphenyls etc
- 4AC Importation of mercury
- 4B Importation of fish
- 4BA Importation of goods specified in Schedule 3A (toothfish)
- 4C Importation of asbestos
- 4D Importation of unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse
- 4DA Importation of tobacco products
- 4E Importation of glazed ceramic ware
- 4F Importation of firearms, firearm accessories, firearm parts, firearm magazines, ammunition, components of ammunition and imitations
- 4FA Public safety test for firearms
- 4G Importation of tablet presses and encapsulators
- 4H Importation of certain weapons and weapon parts
- 4HA Public safety test for weapons
- 4I Importation of ice pipes
- 4K Importation of woolpacks
- 4MA Importation of rough diamonds
- 4R Importation of radioactive substances
- 4S Importation of lighters
- 4T Importation of counterfeit credit, debit and charge cards
- 4U Importation of goods the subject of a permanent ban under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010
- 4V Importation of Anzac goods
- 4VA Importation of incandescent lamps
- 4W Importation of cat or dog fur
- 4X Importation of security sensitive ammonium nitrate
- 4XA Importation of goods under autonomous sanctions
- 4Y Importation of goods from Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
- 4Z Importation of certain goods from Iran
- 4ZB Importation of certain goods from the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
- 4ZC Importation of certain goods from Somalia
- 5 Importation of drugs
- 5A Importation of vaping goods
- 5F Importation of kava as food
- 5G Importation of certain substances
- 5H Importation of certain goods
- 5HA Review of decisions
- 5I Importation of certain organochlorine chemicals
- 5J Importation of goods containing certain chemical compounds
- 5K Importation of ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases
- 5L Importation of viable material derived from human embryo clones
- 5M Importation of engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs
- 6 Regulations do not derogate from any other law
- 7 Delegation by Foreign Secretary
- 8 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Regulation 2015
- 9 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Firearms and Other Weapons) Regulation 2015
- 10 Transitional matters—effect of the Customs Legislation Amendment (Asbestos) Regulations 2019 on permissions and confirmations
- 11 Transitional matters—effect of the Customs Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Exports and Imports) Regulations 2019 on drug importation approvals
- 12 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (Objectionable Goods) Regulations 2020
- 13 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Minamata Convention on Mercury (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2021
- 14 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (Flags) Regulations 2022
- 15 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Tablet Press and Encapsulator Administration) Regulations 2023
- 16 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (Japan—Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement) Regulations 2023
- 17 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Exports and Imports) Regulations 2023
- 18 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (Vaping Goods) Regulations 2023
- 19 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (Drugs Scheduling) Regulations 2024
- 20 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Chemical Weapons) Regulations 2024
- 21 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (Drugs) Regulations 2025
- 22 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Act 2026
- 23 Transitional matters—amendments made by the Charter of the United Nations Legislation Amendment (Sanctions) Regulations 2026
- Schedule 1—Goods the importation of which is prohibited absolutely
- Schedule 2—Goods the importation of which is prohibited unless the permission in writing of the Minister or an authorised person has been granted
- Schedule 3—Goods the importation of which is prohibited unless specified conditions, restrictions or requirements are complied with
- Schedule 3A—Goods the importation of which is prohibited if permission is not granted under regulation 4BA
- Schedule 4—Drugs
- Schedule 6—Requirements for the importation of firearms, firearm accessories, firearm parts, firearms magazines, ammunition, components of ammunition and imitations
- Part 1—Tests
- 1. Official purposes test
- 2. Specified purposes test
- 3. Specified person test
- 4. Police certification test
- 5. Sports shooter test
- 5A. International sports shooter test
- 6. Dealer test
- 7. Handgun test
- 8. Returned goods test
- 8A. Public interest test
- 8B. National interest test
- 9. Application for Minister’s permission to import article
- Part 2—Requirements for specific firearms, firearm accessories, firearm parts, firearm magazines, ammunition, components of ammunition and imitations
- Part 3—Conditions relating to the importation of firearms, firearm accessories, firearm parts, firearm magazines, ammunition, components of ammunition and imitations
- 1A. Identification requirements for firearms, frames and receivers
- 1AA. Identification requirements for silencers, sound moderators and sound suppressors
- 1. Safety requirements for firearms
- 2. Specified purposes test
- 3. Official purposes test
- 3A. International sports shooter test
- 4 Dealer test—category C and D articles
- 5. Dealer test—category H article
- Part 4—Interpretation
- 1. Meaning of certified sports shooter
- 1A. Meaning of certified international sports shooter
- 1B. Meaning of relevant police representative
- 2. Meaning of certified primary producer
- 3 Meaning of category C article and restricted category C article
- 3AA Meaning of category D article
- 3A. Meaning of category H article
- 4. Meaning of certified buyer
- 5. Meaning of licensed firearm dealer
- 6. Meaning of certified for business or occupational purposes
- 7. Meaning of certified collector
- 8 Meaning of sanctioned activity
- Schedule 7—Articles of glazed ceramic ware, methods of testing and permissible levels of metal release
- Schedule 7A—Substances the importation of which is prohibited if permission is not granted under regulation 5G
- Schedule 8—Goods the importation of which is prohibited if permission is not granted under regulation 5H
- Schedule 9—Goods, being certain organochlorine chemicals, the importation of which is prohibited unless permission is granted under regulation 5I
- Schedule 11—Chemical compounds
- Part 1—Interpretation
- Part 2—Compounds (Chemical Weapons Convention, Schedule 1)
- Part 3—Compounds (Chemical Weapons Convention, Schedule 2)
- Part 4—Compounds (Chemical Weapons Convention, Schedule 3)
- Schedule 12—Goods the importation of which is prohibited without permission under regulation 4U
- Schedule 13—Requirements for the importation of certain weapons and weapon parts
- Part 1—Tests
- 1 Official purposes test
- 2 Specified purposes test
- 3 Specified person test
- 4 Dealer test
- 5 Returned goods test
- 6 Police certification test
- 7 Collectors and non-government museum test
- 8 Historical items test
- 9 Public interest test
- 10 National interest test
- Part 2—Requirements for specified weapons and weapon parts
- Part 3—Conditions relating to the importation of certain weapons and weapon parts
- 1 Official purposes test
- 2 Specified purposes test
- 3 Dealer test
- Part 4—Interpretation
- 1 Meaning of authorised person
- 2 Meaning of certified buyer
- 3 Meaning of sanctioned activity
- Endnotes
- Endnote 1—About the endnotes
- Endnote 2—Abbreviation key
- Endnote 3—Legislation history
- Endnote 4—Amendment history