How to Complete and Lodge the B534 Unaccompanied Personal Effects Form

The B534 form in Australia — officially the Unaccompanied Personal Effects Statement — is the declaration you complete to clear household goods and personal belongings through customs when they arrive separately from you. Filed correctly, and if both you and the goods qualify, it lets the Australian Border Force (ABF) release your shipment without charging customs duty or GST, though shipping and brokerage fees still apply.¹ The same form is read by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), which uses your answers to assess biosecurity risk.

Who and What Qualifies for Duty-Free Treatment

You need to meet three personal criteria to use the UPE concession. You must be 18 or older. You must be a passenger or crew member of a ship or aircraft who has arrived from a place outside Australia. And depending on the goods, you may need to satisfy a permanent residency test, which you meet as an Australian citizen, a permanent visa holder, or a special category visa holder.¹

The goods have their own test. They must be your personal property, suitable and intended for your own use in Australia, and personally owned and used by you for a prescribed period immediately before your departure. For most household goods that period is 12 months; a few items, such as certain aircraft, require only six months.² “Used” is read broadly: the goods must have been available for use for their intended purpose on a continuing basis, not just sitting in storage.

One rule trips people up. You must arrange transport of the effects before you arrive in Australia. Once the shipment tied to your move has landed, later goods you send from overseas are not entitled to the concession.¹

What the Concession Will Not Cover

Some items are excluded even when you personally qualify. Commercial goods — anything intended for sale, lease, hire, or exchange, or held in unreasonable quantities — do not qualify. Alcohol and tobacco never qualify and must be declared separately, with excise duties applied. Motor vehicles, motorcycles, trailers, and watercraft go through their own permit and tax regime. Bequeathed goods, meaning items passed to you through a will, are excluded. And goods you have owned for less than the prescribed period are assessed for duty and GST at the standard 10% rate.¹³

You can still include these items in the shipment. The form has dedicated questions for each category, and you pay the applicable charges on those items only.

Filling In the Form

The B534 is a downloadable PDF from the ABF website. Translations are available, but the form itself must be completed in English.¹

Personal and Arrival Details

At the top you enter given names, family name, date of birth, sex, passport number and country of issue, and your intended or actual Australian residential address. You also enter arrival details: flight number or ship name, arrival date (or estimated date), and the country and port of departure. A spouse and children under 18 can be covered by the same statement, with their details recorded in this section.²

Below that you set out how the effects are arriving: the local business handling the goods, the sea bill or air waybill number, the port or airport of arrival, the estimated arrival date, the number of packages, and any container number.

Section One: Residency Status

You tick the box describing your situation — tourist, temporary resident, first-time permanent resident, returning Australian citizen resuming permanent residence, or Australian citizen living overseas returning temporarily. This answer drives whether you meet the residency element of the concession. Returning residents also note their period of absence and other countries visited.²

Sections Two to Four: Restricted and Declarable Goods

Section Two asks about weapons (firearms, ammunition, replica firearms, spring-bladed knives, martial arts equipment), drugs or controlled substances, protected wildlife products, and material that could be considered offensive or illegal. A “yes” answer does not automatically stop the shipment, but the appropriate permits must be in place before clearance.²

Section Three covers any additional people whose goods are in the shipment. Section Four asks about currency of $10,000 AUD or more, and about medicines, including herbal remedies and both prescribed and non-prescribed medications.

Section Five: Dutiable Goods

This is the section where most duty is assessed. You declare cigarettes, cigars, or tobacco; alcoholic beverages; motor vehicles, motorcycles, trailers, or watercraft; goods belonging to someone outside your household; goods for commercial purposes; and any other goods you have owned for less than 12 months. For items owned less than 12 months, a table asks for a description, the price or estimated price in AUD, and the date of purchase.² Keep receipts or registration documents for expensive electronics and furniture; they are the cleanest way to prove when you bought something.

Sections Six to Eight: Biosecurity

These sections feed DAFF’s risk assessment. You are asked whether you or a family member visited farming communities, animal sanctuaries, or sale yards within a month before shipping. You declare items that have been in contact with soil (camping gear, garden tools, golf clubs), wooden articles, animal products, plant materials, and food.² Thorough, honest answers here reduce the chance of a full physical inspection.

Documents to Lodge With the Form

Alongside the signed B534, the ABF expects:¹

Shipping documents — an airway bill, bill of lading, or delivery order identifying you as the UPE owner and showing your address.
A detailed packing list. Vague entries like “miscellaneous household items” tend to trigger more intensive inspections; DAFF reads the packing list alongside your B534 answers when deciding how much of the shipment to inspect.⁴
Receipts or proof of value for goods owned less than the required six or 12 months.
Any permits needed for prohibited or restricted goods, such as firearms.

If you lodge in person, you also pass a 100-point Evidence of Identity check. Bring a primary identity document (passport, birth certificate, or Australian citizenship certificate), a photo ID, and a document showing your primary residence.

Three Ways to Lodge

In Person at an ABF Office

Take the signed form, shipping documents, packing list, receipts, and any permits to an ABF counter and complete the 100-point identity check. If you cannot attend, a representative can lodge for you by presenting a copy of their passport photo page showing their signature.¹

By Email

You or your broker can email the completed form and supporting documents to the ABF office in the state or territory where the goods will arrive:¹

ACT: actregionaloffice@homeaffairs.gov.au
New South Wales: counteropsnsw@abf.gov.au
Northern Territory: ntclientservice@abf.gov.au
Queensland: pebne@abf.gov.au
South Australia: cargoclearanceSA@abf.gov.au
Tasmania: operations.Tasmania@abf.gov.au
Victoria: upevic@abf.gov.au
Western Australia: cargoserviceswa@abf.gov.au

Through a Customs Broker

A broker or freight forwarder can report your UPEs electronically through the ABF’s Integrated Cargo System. You still sign the B534 and supply all the same documents to your broker, and broker fees are separate. Ask for a quote before engaging one.¹

After You Lodge

Once the ABF has your form and documents, it decides whether the shipment qualifies for the concession and whether it needs a physical inspection. DAFF reviews the same materials for biosecurity risk in parallel.

If DAFF calls for a biosecurity inspection, you pay for an entry to be created under the Biosecurity Act 2015 and book an appointment. You or your agent must be present to open and unpack the consignment, so bring tools like crowbars if the goods are crated. A biosecurity officer inspects the contents in your presence.⁴ Noting which box numbers hold declared risk goods before you arrive speeds things up.

If nothing of concern is found, the goods are released. If risk items are found, you have three options, all at your expense: treat the goods where a suitable treatment exists, export them, or destroy them. Once both ABF and DAFF are done, you arrange delivery to your residence.

Charges You Still Pay

The concession waives customs duty and GST on qualifying goods, but other charges can apply. Import Processing Charges depend on consignment value and lodgement type:⁵

$1,000 or less: no import processing charge.
Over $1,000 but under $10,000: $50 electronic, $90 paper.
$10,000 or more: $152 electronic, $192 paper.

For consignments over $1,000, the ABF also collects biosecurity cost-recovery charges on behalf of DAFF: $46 for air freight or $68 for sea freight. If your goods require a biosecurity inspection, DAFF charges further documentation and inspection fees under its own guidelines. Any broker or freight forwarder charges are separate.

If Duty Is Charged Incorrectly

If you believe your goods were wrongly assessed — for example, you had evidence of 12 months’ ownership that was not considered — you can apply for a refund by amending the original import declaration. This can be done electronically through the Integrated Cargo System or by submitting Form B653 (Refund Application). The ABF recommends using a customs broker to lodge the amendment and refund.⁶

Completed refund applications go to nationalrefunds@abf.gov.au, by fax to 08 8447 9443, or by post to Australian Border Force, National Refunds Intervention, Customs House, GPO Box 2399, Adelaide SA 5001.

1
Australian Border Force. Unaccompanied Personal Effects
2
Australian Border Force. Unaccompanied Personal Effects Statement
3
Australian Border Force. GST and Other Taxes When Importing
4
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Moving to Australia or Importing Personal Effects or Household Goods
5
Australian Border Force. Import Processing Charge
6
Australian Border Force. Refund of Customs Duty