Can you take CPAP and medical devices on a plane?
Carry-on: Yes Checked: Conditions Same on domestic flights
Medical devices travel in the cabin and most Australian airlines do not count them towards your carry-on allowance. Portable oxygen concentrators need airline approval before you fly; a CPAP generally does not.
Carry the device in the cabin even if you will not use it: checked baggage is where they get damaged. A doctor's letter is not usually required but resolves questions quickly at screening.
Flying within Australia? This rule does not change.
Lithium battery rules are dangerous-goods rules, not screening rules, so they are identical on a domestic flight.
Two rules explain most of this page. Lithium batteries fly in the cabin so the crew can reach them, and the 100ml liquid limit is an international rule. Your flight home is screened under the departure country's rules, which are sometimes stricter than Australia's.
Flying soon? Screening is the easy part
What stops Australians at the airport is more often the passport, the visa or the phone than the bag. Say where you are going and we will show you the entry rules for an Australian passport, what an eSIM actually costs there, and what the insurance covers.
Travel insurance
A CPAP is worth more than most people's luggage, and cover for medical equipment is not automatic. Check the item limit before you rely on it.
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What is actually worth booking.
New destination guides and side-by-side comparisons for Australian travellers - which eSIM, which travel card, which insurance is worth paying for, and what to sort before you go. Prices in Australian dollars, a few emails a year.
Packing something else? The full A to Z of what you can take on a plane covers 61 items, the domestic flight rules set out what changes when you are not leaving the country, and the pre-departure checklist puts the rest of the trip in order.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026. Screening, dangerous-goods and biosecurity rules change, and airlines can be stricter than the government baseline. For anything unusual, the linked source and your airline's dangerous-goods page are the final word.