Australia’s premiers are selling the idea of a summer of freedoms, as states seek to vaccinate their way out of lockdowns.
For families who have been separated by state borders, spending Christmas together is now a serious possibility.
As Australians begin tentatively planning for the festive period, here’s what we know about gathering and travel restrictions likely to be in place in different states and territories by the end of the year. Needless to say, all arrangements are subject to change at any time.
How many people will be allowed to come over?
At the moment, it looks as though in-home gatherings will be allowed by Christmas, as key vaccination coverage milestones are on track to be reached weeks beforehand.
New South Wales will have entered its third stage of reopening by 1 December, which means there will be no limits on how many visitors you can have. Even unvaccinated visitors will be allowed, which means it could be the perfect opportunity to convince that one uncle who still hasn’t got around to getting the jab.
The Victorian government has indicated that 30 people will be able to visit a home by Christmas, but it’s not yet clear whether unvaccinated people will have this freedom.
In the ACT, the limit for in-home gatherings is set to be increased in time for Christmas. There may still be a limit on the number of visitors allowed, but we know it will be above the 10-person cap set for the end of October.
Queenslanders are likely to be able to enjoy the freedoms they have had throughout the year, as long as the Covid outbreak detected at the end of September is contained.
Given the state’s slower vaccine uptake and the fact it hasn’t had long lockdowns this year, the Queensland government hasn’t set a roadmap for freedoms tied to vaccination coverage, so the situation remains fluid. Only 30 people are allowed to gather in homes as part of the stage two restrictions put in place for parts of the state at the end of September.
At this stage Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will have no limit on the number of guests.
Can we travel regionally or interstate? Is it too early to start booking flights?
It depends where you live and where you want to go, but it is still a bit early to know for sure.
The good news is that travel restrictions that have separated families within states for much of this year look set to lift by Christmas.
In NSW, we know that travel between Sydney and the regions, and between regional centres, will be allowed by Christmas – even for the unvaccinated.
There is one caveat – the outgoing NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, warned that while lockdowns will mostly be a thing of the past, towns and suburbs may be placed under movement restrictions if local case numbers surge.
This is also the case in Victoria – you should be able to travel from Melbourne to Ballarat or anywhere else in the state.
Travel inside the ACT is allowed. So if you live in Gungahlin, Christmas lunch at the weird relatives in Tuggeranong is unfortunately still on.
Because of the higher vaccination uptake and government-outlined freedoms in these jurisdictions, we know that this type of regional travel is likely to be allowed even if case numbers in December are high.
It’s also looking likely that travel between NSW, Victoria and the ACT will be allowed by Christmas. Before her resignation Berejiklian had said she would talk to her Victorian counterpart, Daniel Andrews, in the weeks ahead about reopening the border. The ACT has also indicated interstate travel will be allowed.
Interstate travel is in line with the national reopening plan.
Qantas, buoyed up by reopening announcements and surging vaccination rates, has announced updated schedules for the end of the year in anticipation of travel between NSW and Victoria picking up.
So you can definitely book flights now, but it’s important to keep in mind those caveats about potential hyper-localised movement restrictions.
What about travel to and from Queensland and WA?
You may be out of luck.
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has indicated she will keep the border closed to travellers from states where the virus is active, even once 80% vaccination coverage is achieved.
Western Australia’s premier, Mark McGowan, has struck an even tougher tone, with travel from the eastern states unlikely until next year.
Travel from WA to Queensland looks as though it should be allowed – pending how that cluster of cases at the end of September turns out.
More broadly, travel both within and between WA, SA, Tasmania and the NT looks likely to be allowed by Christmas.
Can people go overseas or return from outside Australia?
There’s still a big question mark over international travel, but it is looking more promising for some states at least.
On Friday Scott Morrison outlined a plan for the states to reopen to international travellers in November once they hit their 80% vaccination targets, following the lead of New South Wales in allowing travel for vaccinated passengers with pre-flight Covid testing and one week of home quarantine.
Victoria and the ACT also welcomed the announcement, but the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, insisted her state would not open until it was deemed safe to do so. And the WA premier, Mark McGowan, said although many in his state would look forward to overseas travel “at some point in the future”, it was “not something that will apply to WA, or indeed other states outside of NSW at this point in time”.
In response to the prime minister’s statement Qantas announced it would bring forward the resumption of international flights by a month, to 14 November, beginning with three return flights a week from Sydney to London and Sydney to Los Angeles.
But there is still plenty of uncertainty about how many flights will be on offer, with airlines having warned it will take some time for any kind of pre-pandemic schedule to be back in operation.
The airlines previously said that easing quarantine and international travel rules were likely to mostly benefit Australians stuck overseas – there are still more than 45,000 who have asked the government for help to get home because of the hotel quarantine caps.
Home quarantine will allow more than the current cap of 2,285 people a week to fly in.
Airlines have also warned availability of outbound seats will be scarce in the first few months of reopening international travel, meaning it could be expensive. And whether some countries will accept Australians from states with high transmission remains to be seen.
