Stage 1 of Australia’s Safe Travel Zone announced 
For the first time since Australia’s boarders closed, New Zealanders will be allowed to travel to Australia from 16th October 2020.
In a tentative opening of Australia’s international borders, the Australian and New Zealand governments have agreed to allow quarantine-free travel for New Zealanders flying into New South Wales and the Northern Territory.
However, the agreement is one way: New Zealanders will still have to quarantine if and when they return to New Zealand.
“This is the first stage in what we hope to see as a trans-Tasman bubble between the two countries, not just that state and that territory,” Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said.
“This will allow New Zealanders and other residents in New Zealand who have not been in an area designated as a COVID-19 hotspot in New Zealand in the preceding 14 days to travel quarantine-free.”
For the purposes of the travel bubble, the Commonwealth’s definition of a covid-19 hot spot is any area that has a rolling 3 day average of 3 locally acquired cases per day or 9 cases over 3 consecutive days. Based on this, no part of New Zealand would be considered to be a hot spot.
This is encouraging news for families who have been separated for months by the border closure. The measure could also help some rural enterprises looking to attract workers to fill vacancies, particularly those in horticulture where many growers are struggling to fill harvest jobs.
New Zealanders do not need to apply for a visa before coming to Australia. Most New Zealanders are issued a Special Category visa subclass 444 visa which allows visa holders to work, study and stay in Australian indefinitely.
For more information on skilled work visas and travel exemptions contact Greg Nicolson info@abmgroup.com.au or call 1300 794 680.
