Can you take medication on a plane?
Carry-on: Yes Checked: Yes Same on domestic flights
Exempt from liquid limits in reasonable quantities with proof it is yours - the pharmacy label or a letter. Pack it in carry-on, in original packaging.
Whether it is legal at your destination is the bigger question. Our medication guide covers the countries that catch Australians out.
Flying within Australia? This rule does not change.
Medication has no volume limit on either kind of flight. Carry it in the cabin with its pharmacy label, as you would internationally.
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
Travelling with prescription medication usually means a pre-existing condition, which is the one thing travel insurers ask about and the one thing that voids a claim if it is not declared.
Compare insuranceLiquids & toiletries
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.