A Canberra plumber used his colleague's passport to board a plane in Melbourne bound for Turkey months after authorities cancelled his Australian travel permit.

Timothy Joel Douglas, 29, handed over his passport after Emre Faruk Yavuz​ convinced him his overseas family was in trouble and he needed to "get away".

Police swooped on Douglas' Charnwood home in April when they recognised Yavuz​, 28, in security images at Melbourne International Airport last year.

Douglas was charged with providing another person with Australian travel documents and pleaded guilty.

Government travel records showed flights from Melbourne to Istanbul, via Singapore, had been booked in his name online through travel agents in Russia and Eastern Europe on September 11.