1224, yes, they do.
CUSTOMS ACT 1901 - SECT 186
General powers of examination of goods subject to Customs control
(1) Any officer may, subject to subsections (2) and (3), examine any goods subject to the control of the Customs, and the expense of the examination including the cost of removal to the place of examination shall be borne by the owner.
(2) In the exercise of the power to examine goods, the officer of Customs may do, or arrange for another officer of Customs or other person having the necessary experience to do, whatever is reasonably necessary to permit the examination of the goods concerned.
(3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), examples of what may be done in the examination of goods include the following:
(a) opening any package in which goods are or may be contained;
(b) using a device, such as an X‑ray machine or ion scanning equipment, on the goods;
(c) testing or analysing the goods;
(d) measuring or counting the goods;
(e) if the goods are a document--reading the document either directly or with the use of an electronic device;
(f) using dogs to assist in examining the goods.
(4) Goods that are subject to the control of Customs under section 31 do not cease to be subject to the control of Customs merely because they are removed from a ship or aircraft in the course of an examination under this section.
Section 186A deals with Customs' powers to copy documents.
Examination of goods includes reading electronic stuff.
Neville, you'd be surprised at the bilge some people are stupid enough to store on their laptops and dvds, sometimes not even password protected.
Some of it is truly vile, degrading and violent. Some of it relates to dodgy personal hobbies such as blowing up public buildings. None of it is particularly uplifting.
However, unfortunately sometimes the Customs adage "We only catch the dumb ones" applies.
Islander Jock, an internal search (sections 219L-ZJ for the morbidly interested) can only be performed by a medical practitioner. Suspects are carted off to the nearest medical facility by the AFP.
An external search (no gloves inserted anywhere) is done by Customs officers.
Worrals