Tag: international border

Key Points:

  1. Victoria lifts travel restrictions on Western Australia
  2. Victoria reserves 120 seats for International Arrivals from May 2021
  3. Victoria renews plans to accept International Students

Victoria has made changes in travel rules from red to orange under the state’s travel permit system for the Peel and Perth regions of Western Australia.

Under the orange zone, people are allowed to travel but are required to isolate until their negative test. If they receive a negative COVID-19 test result,  then travellers will be eligible to end their isolation early after travelling from Perth. 

People can finish isolating themselves after receiving a negative report who have entered Perth and Peel when they were declared orange zones. Whereas people who entered Victoria when it was declared as a red zone will have to wait for approval from the Department of Health.

Victoria has renewed plans to start accepting international students and other international arrivals from next month. 120 people per week would be quarantined in a hotel outside Victoria who would arrive under the existing quarantine system.

Travellers who would be allowed to travel into Victoria from May 24 will include international students, actors and film crew, and major event organisers.

The Victorian government said that on the advice of their public health experts they have a proposal for a dedicated quarantine plan for economic cohorts, including international students. They would work together to welcome back international students.

The Australian government is developing a strategy to make Singapore a quarantine gateway, tourist destination and vaccination center for returning Australians, international students and business travellers.

The deal would help to boost the economy of Australia and clear the log jam of approx 40,000 Australians stuck overseas. Also, reopen the multibillion-dollar international student market at Australian universities, which has been smashed by the international border closure.

Australians would also be allowed to travel to Singapore for work purposes or leisure without any quarantine restriction. New Zealand could also be involved in what would become a three-way travel bubble that the government will be running up from July or August.

Mr. Dan Tehan, Minister of Trade, and Mr. Stuart Robert, Minister of Government Services, guiding the strategy and overseeing behind-the-scenes policy activity. Mr.Tehan confirmed he had discussed the plan with his Singaporean coordinator Chan Chun Sing.

Mr.Tehan said Singapore is eager to collaborate with Australia on a proof of vaccination certificate and our officials have decided to unite on this. Under the plan, Singaporeans who have received their vaccination will be free to travel to Australia for work, research, or vacation without any restrictions of hotel quarantine for two weeks.

Alternatively, a person who received a COVID-19 vaccine in Singapore and obtained a Singapore “proof of vaccination” certificate, which will be recognized by Australia, could speed up their entry into Australia and potentially avoid a hotel quarantine or a one-week quarantine.

Using Singapore to repatriate Australians and resume tourism and business travel would significantly relieve pressure on hotel quarantine systems in the states and the federal government’s Howard Springs facility.