With Christmas and the summer break around the corner, thousands of Australians are packing their bags to head interstate for a break or to spend time with friends and family.
But with eight different jurisdictions announcing different border rules - and some of them adapting restrictions in the lead-up to the festive season - it can be hard to know what forms to fill in, whether or not to get tested and whether you may need to quarantine once you arrive.
So, if you’re heading interstate this summer, these are the rules you need to follow:
New South Wales
The NSW border is open to people from all states and territories and there is no need to complete an entry declaration, do a COVID test or self-isolate.
However there are rules and restrictions in place if you have been to an affected area or an area of concern in the previous 14 days.
To check if you have visited a place of concern, check the locations on the .
If you have visited an affected area or an area of concern, you must complete a NSW entry declaration within the 24 hours before you enter NSW or on entry.
If you have been to an area of concern, upon entry you must travel immediately to your place of residence and stay there until it has been 14 days since you visited the area of concern or the area of concern is revoked.
You are only able to leave home to:
- get food or services;
- travel for work, education, childcare or shared parenting arrangements;
- for medical care, getting vaccinated, health supplies or to fulfil caring responsibilities;
- move home;
- exercise outdoors alone, with your household, or with one other person;
- feed an animal or for animal welfare;
- in an emergency.
If you have visited an area of high concern, check the COVID-19 concerns notice to find out if you are considered a casual contact or a close contact, because the rules are different.
Residents who are casual contacts must get tested as soon as they return to NSW and isolate until they receive a negative result.
If you’re a non-resident who is a casual contact, you may enter NSW if you have been tested and your test returns a negative result. Keep a copy of your test result to show it to an enforcement officer if needed.
Residents who are close contacts are permitted to enter NSW. You must travel immediately to your place of residence or another suitable place and self-isolate until it has been 14 days since you last visited the place of high concern. If you are fully vaccinated, you only need to self-isolate for seven days.
Non-NSW residents who are close contacts are allowed to enter the state if they are fully vaccinated. You must self-isolate for seven days since you were last at the place of high concern.
If you are not fully vaccinated and are a close contact you are not permitted to enter NSW. Instead, you must follow the rules of the state or territory that you are currently in.
If you stayed within the NSW-Victoria border region, you do not need to follow stay-at-home rules. A map of the NSW-Victoria border region can be found .
NSW Health strongly recommends that anyone travelling to rural and remote Aboriginal communities gets vaccinated and avoids travel if they feel unwell.
For the latest COVID-19 rules and restrictions within NSW, click .
Australians have found it hard to keep up with evolving border rules in different states and territories. Source: AAP
Victoria
Domestic visitors to Victoria no longer need to get a travel permit to enter the state (unless they have been overseas in the past 14 days). Furthermore, they do not need to get a COVID-19 test, nor do they need to quarantine.
If you have completed hotel quarantine interstate and wish to enter Victoria, you also don't need a permit.
Australian Capital Territory
All residents and non-residents who have not visited a high-risk geographical area in the previous 14 days are permitted to enter the ACT for any reason. You do not need to complete an exemption application form or undertake quarantine or stay-at-home requirements.
If you are a vaccinated resident or non-resident but have been to a high-risk area in the past 14 days, you must complete an within the 72 hours prior to arriving in the territory. On entry, you will receive exemption documentation and you must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if symptoms develop.
If you are an unvaccinated resident who has been to a high-risk area in the past 14 days, you must complete an exemption form within the 72 hours prior to arriving in the territory. You will be issued your exemption following verification of identity, residency and confirmation of authority to leave your current jurisdiction.
You must stay at home until 14 days have passed since you were last in the high-risk area and are only allowed to leave home to:
- undertake essential work or study, if you cannot work or study from home or remotely;
- attend usual childcare arrangements, where parents or guardians need to undertake essential work or study;
- shop for essentials such as groceries, medicine and necessary supplies;
- attend to medical or health care needs including compassionate requirements, and looking after the vulnerable;
- receive a COVID-19 vaccination;
- exercise outdoors, limited to one hour per day;
- for essential animal welfare purposes (eg to feed pets or livestock that live elsewhere);
- in an emergency.
All individuals aged 12 years and over must wear a mask at all times when leaving home for the above-mentioned reasons - unless they are undertaking vigorous exercise outdoors.
If you are an unvaccinated non-resident who has been to a high-risk area in the past 14 days, you may not enter the ACT unless you obtain an exemption before arriving. If you are granted an exemption you must comply with stay-at-home requirements and/or any conditions outlined in the exemption documentation.
Accompanied travellers under the age of 12 must follow the same requirements as their accompanying parents or guardians.
Unaccompanied travellers under the age of 12 may not enter the ACT unless they obtain an exemption before arriving. Separate conditions will be provided on a case-by-case basis. These conditions will likely include testing requirements only.
For more information on ACT border rules for domestic arrivals and to check exposure locations in all jurisdictions, click .
Queensland
On Monday 13 December to vaccinated Australians who can show a negative PCR test.
Entry requirements depend on whether you have been in a COVID-19 hotspot in the past 14 days and whether you are fully vaccinated.
If you are travelling from a safe travel zone or a green zone, there are no travel restrictions.
If you are fully vaccinated, you are able to travel freely from the non-restricted NSW border zone. If you are not fully vaccinated, you can only travel for.
If you are fully vaccinated you can travel from the restricted NSW border zone to Queensland for . If you are not fully vaccinated, your travel to Queensland from the restricted border zone will be limited to .
To check which LGAs are considered non-restricted border zone areas, click .
If you have been in a declared hotspot in the previous 14 days, you will be able to enter the state as a “hotspot traveller” if you are fully vaccinated and have a negative result of a COVID-19 test taken in the 72 hours prior to arrival. You must also get a COVID-19 test on day five after your arrival in Queensland.
Tom Underhill (left) is reunited with family as he arrives from Sydney to Brisbane Domestic Airport as Queensland opens hard borders after 229 days. Source: AAP Image/Jono Searle
If you enter as a hotspot traveller, you will not need to quarantine though state health authorities require you to monitor the list of interstate exposure venues for the first 14 days after arrival and get tested if you develop any COVID-19 symptoms.
For more details on entering Queensland from a hotspot or to check locations for current declared hotspots, click .
If you have been to an interstate exposure venue (a place where someone diagnosed with COVID-19 has been) in the 14 days before arriving, you can enter Queensland if you are fully vaccinated and have a negative result of a COVID-19 test taken in the 72 hours prior to arrival.
You will be required to quarantine at home (if you meet the eligibility criteria) or in government-nominated accommodation at your own expense.
If you're already in Queensland when you learn you have been in an IEV, you should isolate at home and contact Queensland Health. You will need to complete 14 days of mandatory quarantine.
South Australia
South Australia has opened its borders to vaccinated travellers, with COVID-19 vaccination requirements applying to all travellers over 12 years and two months of age, including returning SA residents.
If you're arriving in South Australia from interstate, including residents, you must complete an and can apply for it up to 14 days before your planned arrival. It’s recommended you apply at least 72 hours before.
This form will assess your COVID-19 risk and advise of any entry conditions. Depending on where you are travelling from and your level of risk, you may need to complete quarantine, testing and symptom check requirements using the mobile app .
If you are an unvaccinated traveller and do not have an approved medical exemption, you are not permitted to enter South Australia. This includes returning residents.
Exemptions will be considered for select reasons (such as funerals and end-of-life visits), with applications for an exemption made as an extension of your .
If your exemption is approved, you will be advised of your quarantine and testing requirements. Some travellers may need to complete quarantine at home using HealthCheck SA or in a medi-hotel.
Western Australia
Western Australia will open to fully vaccinated domestic and international travellers on 5 February. After that date, you will no longer need to quarantine.
A present, only visitors from Tasmania can enter Western Australia without quarantining. Travellers from other Australian states and jurisdictions must self-quarantine for 14 days.
All people arriving in Western Australia, including returning residents, must complete a . Travellers are at present not allowed to enter Western Australia without being approved.
Northern Territory
Only fully vaccinated people, residents and people unable to be vaccinated (such as children under 12 years) are able to enter the Northern Territory.
Everyone travelling to the Northern Territory is required to complete an five days or less before entering.
Fully vaccinated domestic arrivals coming to the Northern Territory from a COVID-19 red zone may be permitted to undertake seven days home quarantine (if you are eligible). You will receive advice after your Border Entry Form has been processed.
Unvaccinated Territory residents travelling from a green zone will still be able to enter the Northern Territory but will be required to travel to a suitable place of quarantine, get tested for COVID-19 and self-isolate until a negative test is returned.
Unvaccinated Territory residents who are coming from a red zone will be required to undertake 14 days mandatory supervised quarantine.
If you are unvaccinated and are not a returning resident you need to to enter the Northern Territory. If you then meet those entry requirements, you will be required to undertake 14 days mandatory supervised quarantine. If you don't, you will not be allowed to enter the Territory.
For the latest COVID-19 rules and restrictions within the Northern Territory, click .
People arrive from Sydney to Brisbane Domestic Airport, Brisbane, Monday, 13 December 2021. Source: AAP Image/Jono Searle
Tasmania
All travellers to Tasmania, including returning residents, need to provide their contact and travel details before entering the state. This is done through the .
All unvaccinated travellers and returning residents will need approval to enter Tasmania.
Your application will need to include evidence of a suitable premises where you can self-isolate or you will need to apply for hotel quarantine (fees apply). It will also need to include evidence of a negative PCR test taken in the 72 hours prior to departure to Tasmania (this applies to all travellers aged five years and older).
From 15 December 2021, if you are fully vaccinated and have not been to any high- or extreme-risk areas, you do not need to be tested for COVID-19 or quarantine and you just need to register your travel.
If you are fully vaccinated but have spent time in any high-risk areas in the 14 days before you intend to arrive in Tasmania, you are required to return a negative COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours before departure to Tasmania.
All travellers who have spent time in an extreme-risk area in the 14 days before you intend to arrive in Tasmania must apply for approval to enter the state. If approved, additional conditions apply including testing and quarantine requirements.
Unvaccinated travellers must apply for approval to enter Tasmania regardless of where they have been before arrival.
