Domestic border restrictions

25 Mar 2020 / Australia

From midnight tonight (25 March), new arrivals into Queensland will be made to self-isolate for 14 days.

This follows the enforcement of the same rule from 13:30 yesterday (24 March) for all new arrivals into Western Australia. The West Australian State Government are also enforcing border controls at all air, road and sea access points. Exemptions will be made for healthcare workers and essential services.

South Australia also closed its borders from 16:00 yesterday, and requires all new arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival. Exemptions will be made to maintain health, the food supply chain and the State’s economic needs, as well as to allow freight to cross the border.

From 16:00 yesterday (24 March), all visitors to the Northern Territory have to self-isolate for 14 days. Potential exemptions exist for essential industries including health, emergency services, aviation and defence.

Since Friday 20 March, all new “Non-Essential” arrivals to Tasmania are required to self-isolate for 14 days. Essential services such as healthcare and people travelling for medical care are exempt.

At this stage there are no domestic border restrictions in place for New South Wales, Victoria or the Australian Capital Territory over and above the Federal Restrictions.

The Federal Governments position is clear that personnel engaged in the day to day conduct of outbound and inbound freight are considered essential and therefore exempt from the domestic border restrictions. State Governments are adopting the same position and therefore there are no restrictions for personnel involved in maritime trade or for ship’s crew crossing the state borders. However, they must carry adequate identification to prove their identity and need to travel for work purposes.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Australia, contact GAC Australia at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.