Nov. 1 will mark the day on which Australians will be free to travel abroad without more restrictions than being fully vaccinated, announced the Health Minister of Australia on Wednesday.
As per news outlets, on Tuesday night the federal government modified the “Human Biosecurity Determination”, removing the requirement for fully vaccinated Australians to seek permission to leave the country.
The law had been enacted in March 2020 to limit international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This announcement is in line with the first stage in Australia’s plan to reopen its international borders.
Students and front-line workers will be permitted once the country’s protocols have been evaluated and refined.
“Fully vaccinated Australians will not require an exemption to depart Australia,” the minister in Canberra on Wednesday.
“Returning Australians will be also able to come back without restrictions,” he added.
However, this last part of the announcement should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Not because the minister was providing citizens with misleading information but because he was probably being a little too optimistic.
Although New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are removing all quarantine restrictions for fully vaccinated international arrivals from Nov. 1, other states still require travelers to observe a 14-day mandatory quarantine at home or a designated hotel, regardless of their vaccination status.
Unvaccinated Australians will continue to be subjected to the same restrictions they have to observe until now.
At least at the beginning, when returning home, Australians will find a patchwork of domestic entry requirements.
Regardless of what the different Australian states decide, Aussies still need to quarantine in multiple of their favorite getaway destinations.
This week the Department of Foreign Affairs announced that only seven countries are allowing Aussies without quarantine restrictions upon arrival.
For now, the list only includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Italy, Greece, Germany, and South Africa.
Thailand seems to be another appealing alternative because Australians will only need to stay in a government-approved hotel for one night from Dec. 1.
In addition, Singapore will allow Australian travelers to visit without quarantine.