AP Photo/Rob Griffith

Senator Amanda Vanstone, right, places her hand on a finger print scanner during a biometric system demonstration at Sydney International Airport in Australia, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005. Senator Vanstone announced that in a bid to enhance border security,

SYDNEY -- Australian Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone on Thursday unveiled the latest step in an ongoing trial to capture and store biometric information of people entering Australia at Sydney airport in a bid to strengthen border security.

During the six-month trial, fingerprints, iris scans and facial information will be collected from selected travelers on a voluntary basis.

"The trial tests our capacity to record, store and match biometric information effectively and efficiently," Vanstone said in a statement.

The first group targeted are overseas travelers selected for further checking by immigration officials at Sydney airport.

The second group, comprising refugees traveling to Australia from Africa, will have their biometric information recorded before departure. On arrival in Sydney, they will be asked to again provide their information to test the technology's capacity to match the information.

"In the future, we could also take biometric information from people turned around at the border and add this information to travel alert lists," Vanstone said.

The trial began last year with laboratory tests, but this is the start of the first live trial in operational areas.