Vaccinated Aussies will be FREE to leave the country in days as a major country opens its doors – here’s where you can travel to first
Fully vaccinated Australians will no longer need to apply for an exemption to leave the country after officials last night approved unrestricted international travel.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt gave the green light for travellers who have received both jabs to fly out from next Monday, November 1.
It comes as a quarantine-free bubble with Singapore is approved.
Aussies will be allowed to enter Singapore without having to quarantine from November 8 with travellers required to return a negative PCR test 48 hours before arrival.
Once landed travellers will need to undergo another test and isolate until given a negative result.
Children under 12-years-old don’t need to be vaccinated and those under the age of two will not be required to get tested.
The new changes to international travel mean Aussies can come and go without having to apply for an exemption from the Department of Home Affairs.
The travel ban was enforced in March last year when the outbreak of the pandemic first peaked.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the change on Sunrise on Wednesday morning, as major airlines ramp up flights overseas.
‘Over half a million Australians have already been able to download the international vaccination certificate,’ he said.
‘We are getting very close now to a reciprocal arrangement with Singapore.
‘The national plan is working. The national plan is about opening Australia up and that is because the vaccination rates are climbing so high.’
A quarantine-free bubble between Australia and Indonesia is now reportedly also in the works.
Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has confirmed officials were in talks about re-opening travel between the two nations as Covid cases continue to fall in the south-east Asian country.
‘The Covid situation on the ground in Bali is continuing to improve,’ he said during a question-and-answer discussion with Newscorp on Monday.
‘It’s obviously an incredibly popular destination for Australians in particular, and tourism is such a huge part of the Balinese economy so we will continue to have discussions.’
Mr Tehan said travel agreements with Japan and South Korea were also actively being considered by the Australian government.
‘We’re going to put something in place for Singaporeans in the next couple of weeks and my hope would be we could then look at Japan, South Korea and Bali as the next step in that direction,’ he said.
‘I think there’s a real pent-up demand for people to travel again.’
Major airlines like Jetstar and Qantas have jumped on the lifting of travel exemptions, offering cheap flights to holiday destinations like Hawaii, Japan, Singapore, Bali, New Zealand, Fiji and Thailand.
As part of Jetstar’s 2022 International sale, Aussies can fly from Sydney to Honolulu one way from just $258 between next April and May.
Business flights from Sydney to Phuket start at just $499 for travel between January and March.
Flights to Queenstown start from $189 and airfares to Tokyo start at an affordable $288.
Travellers wanting to escape to Fiji can do so for as much as $199 for one-way flights while tickets to Bali start at $159.
Meanwhile, Australia is expected to allow quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated international arrivals into at least four states before Christmas.
South Australia will scrap isolation requirements for overseas and domestic travellers with two jabs when the state reaches 90 per cent immunisation coverage.
Premier Steven Marshall expects the milestone to be reached before Christmas, weeks after state borders open on November 23.
Victoria and NSW will permit double-jabbed overseas arrivals to enter Melbourne and Sydney without having to isolate from Monday.
Tasmania has set December 15 as the date it will throw open borders to international and domestic travellers.
All travellers will be required to test negative for Covid.
The SA government’s announcement further isolates Western Australia, which is likely to remain shut to countries, states and territories with the virus until next year.
The massive backlog of returning Australians will be the first to benefit from the new international travel arrangements before migrant workers, international students and tourists.
Australia is on track for one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, with more than 74 per cent of over-16s now fully vaccinated.
In excess of 87 per cent have received at least one dose.
The vaccine rollout – plagued by delays for months – is expected to soon include booster shots for the general public.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration and Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation met with Mr Hunt on Monday.
He said a decision on third jabs for the wider population was imminent.
‘Over the next coming days, I expect to receive the final advice of the TGA on the booster program,’ he told parliament on Tuesday.
‘As we go forward, we continue to save lives and protect lives.’
