West Australians returning home from overseas will soon be able to bypass hotel quarantine and self-isolate at home if they enter WA via another state or territory.
The significant change to travel rules, which comes into effect on February 5 when the border was supposed to reopen, is part of revamped G2G exemption criteria announced yesterday.
It will allow people returning to WA through another state to avoid hefty hotel quarantine costs, while those travelling directly to WA from overseas will still be forced into hotel isolation.
Even the WA Premier has conceded there are "some inconsistencies" around the plan, so why is the government doing this and how will it work?
Currently, international arrivals have to isolate in a hotel for at least seven of their 14 days in quarantine, at their own expense.
Under the new arrangement, international arrivals who touch down anywhere in Australia before coming to WA will only be required to fulfil quarantine and testing requirements as a domestic traveller.
But they will only be granted entry if they:
- Undergo self-quarantine for 14 days
- Are triple dose vaccinated if eligible, double dosed if not eligible
- Provide proof of a negative rapid antigen test within 24 hours of departure
- Undergo a PCR test within 48 hours of arrival, and on day 12 of quarantine
- Comply with quarantine checks in-person, and via the G2G Now app
Travellers who take the indirect route into WA will also be allowed to bypass stricter testing PCR testing requirements, which will still be in place for international arrivals flying straight into the state.
The new directions also permit entry into WA from interstate for anyone who has lived in the state in the past two years and is returning to live permanently.
Those with "direct legitimate family connections" in WA will also be allowed in and West Australians who travel over east to visit relatives will be able to return.
Why are the rules changing?
WA Premier Mark McGowan said "whilst there are admittedly some inconsistencies" with the plan, it would "serve the greater good" by ensuring the state's hotel quarantine system remained "operational" while a new quarantine facility was being built.
The purpose-built Commonwealth facility in Bullsbrook was meant to be completed by the end of March but after several delays, Mr McGowan said WA would need to rely on the hotel quarantine system for a while longer.
"We were originally promised March, that then moved to May, and now I am advised it's July or August. It keeps going sideways," he said.
With no certainty over when it will be ready, it's hoped the hotel quarantine system will continue to hold, but the capacity in hotels might not be enough.
The new quarantine rules are intended to reduce the load on the system by redirecting some arrivals into self-quarantine.
Mr McGowan warned that without enough capacity in the hotel quarantine system, anyone who needed to isolate away from their homes would have "nowhere to go".
He said "other premiers" had told him some returned travellers had been turned away from eastern states hotels because they were COVID-positive.
Who can come into WA?
While the state's border will remain closed, the changes are aimed at making it easier for West Australians to come home, and for eastern states residents to visit immediate family members.
People with a "direct legitimate family connection" with someone in WA will be allowed to return via an updated G2G application.
It represents an expansion of exemption criteria for approved travellers including:
- People with strong or direct family connections in the state
- Those returning to WA to live if they resided in the state within the last two years
- For urgent and essential medical treatment
- Visiting a family member who is terminally ill or receiving palliative care
- To attend a family member's funeral
- Students returning for school who are already enrolled
- Students who live in an education residential facility in another state or territory that is closed for scheduled holidays
Police Minister Paul Papalia said all arrivals who received approval would still need to undergo quarantine and testing requirements.
"You will still be compelled to comply with all the other obligations… but it does allow people to reconnect," he said.
"As long as you're a direct lineal relative… [it can't be] your distant third cousin."
The new G2G system is set to be updated on February 1 and will process more than 22,000 applications already lodged from people wanting to enter the state.
But Mr Papalia asked new applicants to wait for the new system to be implemented before lodging an application.
"Anyone who is not one of those 22,000… don't apply now. Wait until [February 1] because the system has to be changed," he said.
The changes mark a further relaxation of hotel quarantine requirements after Mark McGowan announced changes earlier this month.
From January 31, travellers who are double vaccinated and record negative PCR results from tests on days one and six of hotel quarantine will be able to leave hotel quarantine on day eight and do the remaining seven days at a suitable premises.
