Update: The prime minister has contradicted Perrottet's claim that tourists will be allowed to return to Australia from November. Read the full story here.
Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced a major change to the quarantine and border rules for inbound international arrivals into NSW. From November 1, fully vaccinated people coming to Australia via NSW – both returning citizens and tourists – will not be required to quarantine. Last week, the federal government announced that international travel would be permitted from November, but NSW is the first state to formally announce that its borders will be reopening to the world.
Perrottet acknowledged that international travel was set to resume in NSW before interstate travel, saying he expected NSW residents to be "travelling to Bali before they can travel to Broom", adding that "Australia can't remain a hermit kingdom."
Arrivals will be required to deliver a negative result from a PCR test before they board their flight and will be required to show proof of vaccination with a vaccine approved by the TGA. Unvaccinated people will still be required to complete a two-week hotel quarantine, and the number of unvaccinated travellers arriving into NSW will be capped at 210 people per week.
Notably, there were no representatives from NSW Health present at the press briefing.
The state’s tourism minister Stuart Ayres said that by November 1, more than 90 per cent of the adult population would be fully vaccinated. He also made it clear that there would be no quarantine requirements of any kind for vaccinated travellers. “That is not hotel quarantine, that is not home quarantine, you will be able to return home, or if you are a person from another country who wants to visit or work in Australia, and you are fully vaccinated, you will be able to come to Australia and not have to quarantine.”
Also from November 1, statewide travel will be allowed for people in Greater Sydney, and all caps on hospitality bookings, which are currently limited to a maximum of 20 guests, will also be lifted.