Covid travel news for Australia

Which countries are opening their borders and which are still closed? With travel being affected so much due to COVID-19 always check if there are any restrictions before you book an accommodation. Keep an eye on this page and find out where in the world you can still travel to...

Updates for Australia

Australia resumed its travel bubble with New Zealand

Australia has once again resumed its travel bubble with New Zealand allowing tourists to visit Australia without a 14 day hotel quarantine.

The move came 6 days after the Australian government closed the travel bubble when a case of the new Covid-19 variant was found in New Zealand. There has been no locally recorded case since.

Updated on February 08, 2021.

Disclaimer the information is correct to the best of Weather & Climate's knowledge at the time of publication. Given the rapidly evolving nature of the international response to the COVID-19 outbreak Weather and Climate cannot guarantee its accuracy and can accept no liability for any errors or omissions

Travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand suspended

Since today, the travel bubble between the two countries has been temporarily suspended, causing a dent in the belief of travel bubbles being a safe way to travel during the pandemic. Here’s more information about what the bubble was, why it has been suspended and whether or not travelers can still make the trip to New Zealand or Australia.

Updated on January 25, 2021.

Australia may not reopen borders this year

Australia is unlikely to fully reopen its borders this year, even if most of the population has been vaccinated, as intended. Brendan Murphy, the Australian Department of Health's senior official, also expects travelers to face quarantine duty after entering "for some time to come."

There is currently a 'travel bubble' with New Zealand, which has virtually no corona cases, but it only allows to travel from New Zealand to Australia.

Updated on January 18, 2021.

Australia and New Zealand plan to open travel bubble in early 2021

New Zealand and Australia want to open a travel bubble together in the first quarter of 2021. That is what Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, said at a press conference on Monday. Travelers between these countries will no longer have to be quarantined after arrival. The countries want to make travel easier among themselves, while travelers from other countries continue to have stricter rules to prevent the spread of virus.

Updated on December 14, 2020.

Australia opens up more borders for domestic travel

After months of severe restrictions, Australians are allowed to resume domestic flights. Queensland state, a popular holiday destination, allows visitors from the country's two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, after closing its borders in August.

New South Wales has since notched a month without any COVID-19 cases where the source is unknown and restrictions on arrivals from Sydney will be eased on Dec 1, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

Updated on December 01, 2020.

Australia plans to open up domestic travel by Christmas

Australia’s domestic tourism market could be revived by Christmas. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his Cabinet loosely had agreed to remove travel restrictions by the end of the year. Western Australia, however, has excluded itself from this agreement.

“We agreed, in principle, ... with the reopening framework for Australia by Christmas,” Morrison said.

“We look forward to [states and territories] opening, and the commitment [that], by Christmas of this year, certainly seven out of the eight states and territories will be open... That will be a great day for Australia.”

Updated on October 30, 2020.

Australia is reopening borders to nationals from New Zealand October 16

Australia is reopening its borders for tourism to nationals from New Zealand starting on October 16th.

New Zealanders will be able to fly to New South Wales and the Northern Territory of Australia beginning at 12:01 am October 16th.

“The establishment of a travel zone between Australia and New Zealand has been finalized,” stated Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
new south wales bridge by sea

The travel bubble wont go in both directions to start with. Only New Zealanders will be able to travel to Australia.

Source: Travel off Path

Updated on October 03, 2020.

Australia extends entry ban until mid-December

Australia has extended the entry ban for international travellers until at least December 17. Health Minister Hunt is following the advice of the Australian Health Council AHPPC, which still considers admitting tourists as an "unacceptable risk" because of corona pandemic.

Since March, the country has closed its borders to foreign travelers. Prime Minister Morrison hopes to lift most of the restrictions around Christmas, he said at a press conference. Then it should also be easier for Australians to travel between the different states and territories.

Updated on September 04, 2020.

Australian internal borders may remain closed until Christmas

The borders between the various Australian states may remain closed until Christmas, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced this today. However he is optimistic about the measures taken. Due to, among other things, a complete lockdown in Melbourne, the number of new infections is decreasing.

Despite this decline, the state of Victoria, which is home to Melbourne, on Monday reported the largest number of coronary patients who died since the beginning of the corona pandemic.

Updated on August 10, 2020.

Australia-New Zealand Border may reopen by September

Australia and New Zealand may reopen their borders to travel from the two countries as soon as September, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper cited Simon Birmingham, Australia’s tourism and trade minister, as saying.

The minister said in the July 3 interview the time frame was realistic, though would require the agreement of New Zealand’s government and is subject to uncertainties such as renewed outbreaks.

The borders of Australia are expected to remain closed until 2021

It is unlikely we will be able to travel to Australia this year. The Australian government has advised Australians to take holidays in their own country. The borders are expected to remain closed until 2021, this means tourists won't be allowed in the country as well.

The Australian borders have been closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. There were talk of "travel bubbles" being agreed with neighbouring New Zealand and some other countries that have few corona cases, but Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham warned the Aussies not to have too much hope.

In the words of The Australian Minister Birmingham it sounded like this: “I hope that we can look eventually at some of those countries who have similar successes in suppressing the spread of COVID to Australia and New Zealand, and in working ... with those countries to find safe pathways to deal with essential business travel that helps to contribute to jobs across our economies,’’ When asked whether he was talking about a travel ban until 2021, Birmingham replied: "I honestly think that will be the case."

However, international students and some other visitor categories who would stay longer in the country could still be admitted on Australian soil. If they are prepared to go into quarantine for 14 days.

We recommend to always check if there are any latest travel restrictions before you book an accommodation. Travel may only be permitted for certain purposes and recreational travel may not be specifically permitted. Government measures are constantly changing, so we recommend that you regularly check for updates. Click here for travel restrictions and guidelines for Australia.

Updated on June 28, 2020.

Weather and climate in Australia