Can you bring seeds or plants into Australia?
Carry-on: No Checked: No Declare on arrival: Required Different on domestic flights
Most seeds, live plants, cuttings and fresh flowers are prohibited without an import permit, and all of them must be declared. Seeds sold as souvenirs or in craft items count.
This is the category most likely to be confiscated outright rather than treated. Dried, commercially packaged herbs and spices are usually fine, but still have to be declared.
This is the category biosecurity officers are least flexible about, because a seed is the thing the whole system exists to stop. Unlike wooden items, which can often be treated and released, seeds and live plant material are usually just taken.
The souvenir trap is real: seed jewellery, decorative gourds, seed pods in craft items and dried flower arrangements all count, and none of them look like "plants" to the person packing them. If an item contains something that could grow, it has to be declared.
Seeds are also restricted between Australian states, not only at the international border - so a domestic leg can matter too. Check the destination state before you pack anything living.
Flying within Australia? A different rule applies.
Plants and seeds are also restricted between Australian states, not just at the international border. Check the destination state before you pack them.
This one is decided at the Australian border rather than at screening. Declaring a thing costs nothing and a biosecurity or Border Force officer decides - it is failing to declare that carries the fine. If you are not sure whether something counts, declare it.
Seeds, plants and flowers: common questions
Can you bring seeds into Australia?
Most seeds are prohibited without an import permit, and every one of them has to be declared. This includes seeds sold as souvenirs and seeds used decoratively in jewellery or craft items, which are the ones travellers most often miss.
Do you have to declare seeds and plants on arrival in Australia?
Yes, all of them, whether or not you think they are allowed. Declaring protects you from a penalty even when the item is then refused entry, so there is no advantage in leaving something off the card.
Can you bring dried herbs and spices into Australia?
Commercially packaged, dried herbs and spices are usually fine, but they still have to be declared. The packaging matters: loose or home-dried material is treated far more cautiously than a sealed retail pack.
Are seeds restricted between Australian states?
Yes. Plants and seeds are controlled at state borders as well as the international one, so a domestic flight can also be a problem. Check the rules for the destination state before packing anything living.
Coming home to Australia
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.