Canberrans will be able to travel more freely in the surrounding NSW region, with the ACT Government relaxing quarantine requirements for Canberrans travelling from an expanded number of postcodes surrounding the Territory.
Following the decision from the NSW Government to remove its declaration of the ACT as a COVID-19 area of concern, the ACT Government will expand the list of postcodes where ACT residents can travel to without needing to quarantine when they return.
From midday today (Saturday, 16 October 2021) the following postcodes will be added to the existing list:
The ACT Government will also align the reasons for travelling from the ACT into these postcodes with NSW Health directions. When in NSW, residents of the ACT must abide by NSW Health Directions, including the need to be fully vaccinated before they travel and to check in where required.
ACT residents travelling beyond these expanded postcodes will have to quarantine for 14 days when they return home. Quarantine may also be required if ACT residents are identified as a close contact from an ACT or NSW exposure location.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said that the ACT Government will further assess travel arrangements for ACT residents when the next stage of the ACT’s Pathway Forward is due to implemented.
“As we have seen throughout this pandemic, travel restrictions are temporary. As more people get fully vaccinated in regional NSW and the ACT, Canberrans can expect that travel restrictions will be relaxed further,” Chief Minister Barr said.
“This is a balancing act. Canberrans didn’t go through nine weeks of lockdown only to see a spike in cases. That’s why we are implementing a gradual easing of restrictions, and the same goes for our travel requirements for returning ACT residents.”
Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith said the ACT Government had aligned restrictions with NSW where possible to ease some of challenges associated with cross border travel.
“The ACT and NSW are just a few weeks away from very high levels of full vaccination. But we’re not quite there yet, and our public health officials remain concerned about increasing case numbers in some parts of NSW,” Minister Stephen-Smith said.
“ACT residents travelling in NSW will need to abide by the public health directions in that state. That includes the need to be fully vaccinated.”
“If Canberrans decide to visit family and friends in the surrounding region, we ask that they be vigilant in observing COVID safe behaviours. This includes wearing a mask, maintaining physical distancing and checking exposure sites in the region they are travelling to – including after they return to the ACT.”
