CANBERRA: Australia on Monday further relaxed its travel rules as it allows fully vaccinated eligible visa holders to enter the country without the need to apply for a travel exemption from December 1. Eligible visa holders include skilled and student cohorts, as well as humanitarian, working holidaymakers and provisional family visa holders.
The additional changes have been announced as part of the National plan to safely reopen Australia.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in a statement, said: "From 1 December 2021, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders can come to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. Eligible visa holders include skilled and student cohorts, as well as humanitarian, working holidaymaker and provisional family visa holders."
He said that these changes will ensure that "we continue to protect the health of Australians while reuniting families and securing our economic recovery by opening our border to skilled and student visa holders".
Under these arrangements, Morrison said that the travellers must be fully vaccinated with a completed dosage of a vaccine approved or recognised by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), hold a valid visa for one of the eligible visa subclasses, provide proof of their vaccination status and present a negative COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken within three days of departure.
"The return of skilled workers and international students to Australia will further cement our economic recovery, providing the valuable workers our economy needs and supporting our important education sector," Morrison said.
Australia has reopened its border to quarantine-free travellers on November 1 after months of stringent pandemic restrictions
On March 20 last year, Australia introduced some of the world's toughest border restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Strict restrictions were imposed by Australia from travelling overseas without permission for 18-months.