Before we get into the news, let’s take a moment to congratulate the Australian and American athletes who competed in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris. As the world now turns its attention to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and 2032 in Brisbane, the ties between America and Australia will only strengthen.

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In the lead up to the 2024 Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Annapolis, Maryland last week, Australian Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong noted, "the US-Australia relationship is unprecedented in scale, scope and significance – but underpinned above all else by the links and bonds between our people." This unequivocal recognition of the ongoing impact of the US-Australia alliance underlines the importance of the work our members do in Australia and in the United States to create jobs and grow the economies in both countries. The innovation, exploration, and determination exhibited by large and small AmCham companies is at the heart of the 100-year plus relationship.

And, now, picture this: The clock says it is the middle of the afternoon, yet you’ve just woken up. For the past 17 hours you have been hurtling across the Pacific in a metal tube, and you’ve just landed at one of America’s busiest airports. As you stumble up the jetway and into the terminal, you rub the sleep from your eyes and try to decide which queue to join. If you’re an Australian citizen, you might take a look at Non-US citizen line and shudder. Will you make your connecting flight? Will you be late for your business meetings? Should you have used the loo before you got off the plane? All that is about to change for frequent Australian business travellers to the United States.

Thanks to the advocacy of AmCham Australia and other organisations, from January 2025, the popular US Global Entry program will be open to a trial group of eligible Australians. These 1,000 first participants (who will have travelled to the US at least five times over the past year) will benefit from an expedited clearance process on arrival in the United States as well as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Pre-Check program for domestic flights. This will make a significant difference for frequent business travellers, and represents another barrier broken between the United States and Australia, bringing our people closer to together.