How Australians will travel internationally again: What’s coming and when

A clearer picture is forming on the future of Australia’s international borders. Here’s how overseas travel could look.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that people stranded overseas could be able to fly back to Australia and home quarantine by Christmas, saying “we can get there”.

Mr Morrison commended the expats for their patience and endurance over the past two years in a prerecorded video message for the Advance awards ceremony celebrating the achievements of Aussies working overseas on Thursday.

“You’ve carried a very heavy burden this past year and a half,” Mr Morrison said.

“For Australians overseas it has been a very difficult and frustrating time – it’s tough.

“Living through a pandemic and being separated from your family has brought its own heartbreak: life’s moments miss that you will never get back.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that people stranded overseas could be able to fly back to Australia and home quarantine by Christmas. Picture: Mark Stewart

Mr Morrison told Australian expats hoping to return they could be able to reunite with their loved-ones by Christmas, when he hopes home quarantine would be “widespread”.

“Our deal with Australians is that when vaccination rates hit 70 and 80 per cent, we do begin to open up. Australians can leave and return and Australians who are overseas and are vaccinated can come home,” he said.

“We want to have home quarantine as the primary and viable method for quarantine and the widespread option for people who are travelling or living overseas and wishing to return to Australia.

“The opportunity to home quarantine will be an important development.”

WHERE AUSTRALIANS COULD TRAVEL

Australians currently have limited options for international travel with the exception of the trans-Tasman travel bubble with New Zealand, though that is currently off-limits as both countries battle outbreaks of the Covid-19 Delta variant.

Federal Trade Minister Dan Tehan this week said that he expected an Australia-Singapore travel bubble would be “ready to go by the end of the year”.

Mr Tehan also said there were “very serious discussions” with Pacific Island nations about travel arrangements.

Qantas recently announced that it was planning to restart some international travel before Christmas to destinations including Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, the US and Canada.

Data from online travel agent Expedia shows international travel searches jumped 20 per cent in the week the airline made the announcement compared to the one prior.

When it came to countries Qantas had marked for initial takeoff, searches to destinations in the US increased almost 35 per cent. UK destinations experienced a 50 per cent jump, with searches to Singapore increasing almost 100 per cent.

Qantas expects Hong Kong could also be a travel option by February, 2022.

HOW INTERNATIONAL BORDER RESTRICTIONS COULD BE EASED

It was expected that Australia’s international borders would not open until mid-2022 after a grim finding in this year’s federal budget papers. However, there are signs some travel restrictions could be relaxed sooner.

Australians are currently required to seek permission from the Department of Home Affairs if the want to head overseas, and may face costly and limited flights if they want to return home.

But the ban could be dropped as soon as November for people leaving states that have reached the 80 per cent double-vaccinated target.

It’s anticipated that New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia could reach this in November, while Queensland and Western Australia could take until December.

Mr Tehan on Wednesday made similar comments to Mr Morrison.

“The national plan makes very clear that once we hit that 80 per cent mark then outbound travel – travel by Australians overseas – will take place and also that we can put in place arrangements for inbound travel as well,” Mr Tehan said

VACCINE PASSPORTS AND HOME QUARANTINE KEY TO TRAVEL RESTART

To make this work, Australia will roll out vaccine passports, which are set to be issued as soon as October, so that a travellers can prove their immunisation status overseas and on their return.

Many other countries have implemented this system, but there are some issues around which Covid-19 vaccines are accepted. This has sparked calls for the Federal Government to clarify what vaccines it will recognise when international flights resume - and if Australia’s Covid-19 inoculations will be acknowledged worldwide.

For example, In June, Canadians, who had received AstraZeneca, which is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, were denied entry to a Bruce Springsteen concert in New York.

Currently, Australians returning from overseas — with the exception of inbound flights from New Zealand when the bubble is operational — are required to isolate for 14 days in hotel quarantine, which has been linked to Covid-19 outbreaks most notably in Queensland and Victoria.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has written to state and territory leaders asking for timelines on when home quarantine will be introduced

South Australia commenced a pilot program last month, and will soon start to accept double-jabbed international arrivals.

Queensland is also preparing to expand its trial to fully vaccinated travellers from interstate hotspots. Victoria has also started its first pilot beginning with at least 200 Victorian residents stuck on the NSW side of the border bubble.

- additional reporting by Helena Burke

Originally published as How Australians will travel internationally again: What’s coming and when