When Will Australians Be Able To Travel Overseas Again?
There is light at the end of the tunnel for Australians hoping to jet off overseas in 2021.
While Department of Health Secretary Brendan Murphy recently quashed hopes that a March roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccine would mean a speedy return to quarantine-free long-haul travel, a trans-Tasman bubble is back in the cards.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that Wellington will allow quarantine-free travel to and from Australia in the first quarter of 2021.
“It is our intention to name a date ... in the New Year once remaining details are locked down,” Ardern told reporters on Monday.
Australia closed its international borders early in the pandemic, and now, apart from New Zealanders, only allows 6,290 returning citizens to fly into the country per week, meaning tens of thousands of Australians are still trying to get home.
The ban on overseas travel from Australia still exists — you can’t leave the country unless you get a special exemption from the Department of Home Affairs.
So, with a vaccine on the horizon and rules changing rapidly again, what’s the latest on where and when we can travel?
Here’s what the experts are saying:
When is the trans-Tasman bubble happening?
While New Zealand has not set a date that Australians will be able to travel across the ditch, Ardern said there are still a few factors that need to be ironed out.
Coronavirus case numbers and community transmission will need to be under control in both countries. Australia must sign off on the deal, and a repatriation plan must be in place to get Kiwis home if there is a substantial outbreak in Australia in 2021.
The first phase of the bubble was introduced in October when New South Wales and the Northern Territory opened their borders to Kiwis without hotel isolation. Queensland has since done the same.
When will Australians be able to travel to Europe and the USA?
Apart from travelling to New Zealand, Australians have a long way to go before they...
