How Australia will begin reopening its borders from next month

Australia is gearing up to reopen to the rest of the world after more than 18 months of Covid-19 isolation.

Under plans for a phased reopening announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thousands of Australians “marooned” in other countries will be allowed to return from November provided they are vaccinated and take a pre-flight Covid test, reported The Times. And rather than Australia’s mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine - which costs each traveller A$3,000 (£1,600) - the requirement for double-jabbed returning nationals will be cut to seven days of self-isolation at home.

“It’s time to give Australians their lives back,” Morrison said at a televised media conference on Friday. “We’ve saved lives. We’ve saved livelihoods, but we must work together to ensure that Australians can reclaim the lives that they once had in this country.”

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As the BBC noted, since March 2020, Australia “has had some of the world’s strictest border rules”. Residents have been allowed to leave only for exceptional reasons such as essential business or to visit a dying family member, while entry has been limited almost exclusively to citizens and has been subject to strict quota limits.

The newly announced reopening does not include allowing foreigners into the country, but ministers said in a statement that the government was working “towards welcoming tourists back to our shores”.

According to Reuters, a government source confirmed that that such plans were being discussed, “but it was not possible to yet state a timetable”.

However, many thousands of Australians will soon become eligible to travel out of the country, after their state’s vaccination rate hits 80% of over-16s.

“New South Wales - which includes Sydney - is on track to be first state to cross the 80% threshold, in a few weeks,” said the BBC. “Victoria - containing Melbourne - is not far behind.”

The hotel isolation requirement is also being scrapped in favour of seven days at home for fully vaccinated Australians and permanent residents who go abroad and then return after borders are reopened. Australians who are not vaccinated will be still be required to isolate in a hotel, however, with the exception of under-12s and people with medical conditions.

And states including Western Australia and Queensland - which are still pursuing coronavirus elimination policies - have threatened to keep their borders closed until their vaccination rates are even higher than 80%.

“All of that is going to make the practicalities of reopening international borders quite tricky,” wrote the BBC’s Australia correspondent Shaimaa Khalil.

Airlines “have already said they’re not ready for the ramping up of services this reopening will require”, she continued, and “with so many details still vague in terms of restrictions and proof of vaccination, this could be a potential headache for border authorities too”.

The result could be “a scenario where it could be easier for people in some states to travel to London for a vacation than it is to go to Perth”, Khalil added.