Australian travelers warned of limits to consular assistance

Australian tourists have been warned of limits in regards to consular assistance in an effort to lessen the amount of travelers reaching out overseas due to frivolous and time consuming requests.
Foreign minister Julie Bishop announced the restrictions on Wednesday after revealing there were nearly 15,000 Australian tourists who contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last year. However, a large portion of those 15,000 people had queries that could not be dealt with by staff.
Although Bishop ruled out recommendations to charge tourists for assistance costs, she said it remained a "live option."
Examples of flippant requests listed by Bishop include "I'm going on a cruise... What will the food be like and can you drink the water on the ship?" and a request for department staff to look after a travelers dog.
There were also several examples of travelers asking the department to book accommodation, in addition to asking embassies to provide drivers to pick guests up from certain airports.
However, Bishop is intent on staff spending more time on Australians who are in vulnerable positions and less on irrelevant matters.
"I want to send a very clear message -- consular assistance should not be seen as a right, it is a privilege."
"If you deliberately or willfully abuse the system, you will only receive the absolute minimum level of assistance and advice."
Bishop also revealed there would be less assistance provided to Australians who knowingly break local laws while overseas.