Date: 22 Nov, 2021 Source: Australian Government

Australia continues to take further steps to safely reopen to the world, with additional changes to our international border arrangements coming into effect on 1 December.

Consistent with the National Plan to safely reopen Australia, these changes will ensure 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.

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 holiday maker and provisional family visa holders.

Under these arrangements, 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
• Present a negative COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken within three days of departure.

Travellers to Australia must comply with the quarantine requirements in the state or territory of their arrival, and any other state or territory to which they plan to travel.

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.

Today’s announcement follows earlier changes which have seen us welcome home fully vaccinated Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members since 1 November, and follows the commencement of the Singapore safe travel zone yesterday.

These changes demonstrate the success of our National Plan, as the Government continues to get Australia back to normal and reopen to the world safely.