After 18 months of quarantine and hotel hard borders and 2 million passports that have expired, Australia's international travel ban for the vaccinated will be lifted in November.
International arrivals caps will be removed, allowing the 44,000 Australians who are currently stranded to return home. Both measures will be taken by the individual states once 80% of their respective populations have been vaccinated.
Australian citizens and permanent residents can go home for seven days if they have been fully vaccinated. Non-vaccinated visitors will have to complete 14 days of quarantine at their own expense at a hotel or other approved facility.
After a meeting with Australia's National Cabinet, Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, stated that it was time for Australians to get their lives back.
Our government is preparing plans to reunite families, allow workers to travel to Australia, and to welcome tourists back to Australia. First dose vaccination rates are at more than 78% and double dose rates in Australia at 55%.
Important Requirements
Home quarantine arrangements are only applicable to Australians and permanent residents. Foreign nationals will still need an inbound exemption at the stage. However, these arrangements may be modified at a later time.
Australians arriving in Australia will need to have their vaccines approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Four vaccines are currently approved for use
Pfizer
AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria)
Moderna
Janssen (Johnson & Johnson)
The TGA also recommended that the Covishield and Sinovac vaccines be recognized, but this requires further approval.
For the purposes of quarantine, all Australians under 12 years old and those with medical reasons will be considered vaccinated.
A vaccine passport will be required for international travel. More details will be available in the coming weeks.
Qantas will bring forward international flights
Qantas will accelerate the start of its international flights, beginning with three weekly flights to Los Angeles and London on 14 November.
The first week of flights using Boeing 787-9 aircraft will be Points Planes. All seats will be available at the lowest Classic Flight Rewards rates.
For Australian citizens, permanent residents, their immediate families, and visa holders, fares are available now. Fares for Sydney-Los Angeles start at AU$1662 ($1195) and Sydney-London starts at AU$1869 (1350).
All passengers flying on Qantas international flights must be fully vaccinated. A negative PCR COVID test will be returned 72 hours before departure.
