After spending well over half the year being closed off to the rest of the country, Tasmania has reopened its borders to most of Australia from today (Monday October 26), and is allowing mainlanders from approved areas to now visit without having to go into a 14-day quarantine.
The southern-most state was the first to cut itself off from the rest of the country way back in March as the coronavirus pandemic really ramped up, and as of today it’s opened access back up to visitors from the low-risk states and territories – Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and the ACT.
Tassie is also allowing pals from across the ditch in New Zealand to nip over for a visit, too.
Anyone visiting the island state from NT, SA, WA, QLD and the ACT will need to register their travel through the Tassie e-Travel website, and provide a QR code for scanning when they arrive in the state.
For now, Tasmania is keeping its borders closed to residents in Victoria, and it may reopen its borders to New South Wales travellers from November 2, with a full decision to be made on that this week.
And some good news for those who want to take the car over to Tassie – the Spirit of Tasmania will be running trips across the pond once again.
View this post on Instagram
The ABC reports that the Spirit will only be accepting passengers from the low-risk jurisdictions for now. Those driving down to Port Melbourne catch the big boat will be allowed to pass through NSW and Victoria and only allowed to stop in those states for petrol. Face masks are also mandatory for passengers on the Spirit during check-in, boarding, in public spaces onboard and while disembarking.
As for the other way around, Tasmanians are now also able to visit most of the mainland without having to quarantine on their way back home. Western Australia still has a hard border in place for now, which means that only people with exemptions are allowed to enter the state – including Tasmanians.
Depending on where travellers are headed to, border entry forms and travel route registrations may need to be completed before Tasmanians can enter some states, including South Australia, which requires a Cross-Border Registration to be submitted 14 days before entering the state.
