As families prepared for winter school holidays, Covid outbreaks once again resulted in state border restrictions and cancelled plans.
State and territory health authorities are monitoring the cases and the situation is changing daily. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of where you can and can’t travel and what you need to do before you leave home.
New South Wales
While interstate arrivals are welcome, Sydneysiders are unable to travel to regional NSW until 10 July.
People are barred from leaving the city, except for essential purposes.
Interstate arrivals to NSW from the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria, including people who have been in those states for any time during the previous 14 days, need to complete an entry declaration.
Travellers from those jurisdictions will need to complete a travel declaration within the 24 hours immediately before entering NSW, or on entry. Anyone who has been to a venue of high concern (listed here) must follow testing and self isolation requirements.
Victoria
All travellers from anywhere in Australia must apply for a permit to enter Victoria.
However, every area that is currently in lockdown has been declared a “red zone”, meaning their residents are banned from entering Victoria.
That means Greater Sydney, Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast in NSW are red zones. The Brisbane area – the City of Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast are also still red zones, despite restrictions easing.
Other areas which had recently been in lockdown are now classed in the orange zone. So that’s greater Darwin and Alice Springs in the NT, the Perth and Peel region of WA, and south-east Queensland, Townsville, Palm Island and Magnetic Island in Queensland have been declared hotspots.
South-east Queensland includes the local government areas of Noosa, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim, the Lockyer Valley, and Somerset.
The ACT and all other areas of NSW, outside of the above listed red zone areas, are also classed as the orange zone.
Victorian residents returning from a red zone can enter the state but must quarantine for 14 days. Anyone travelling from an orange zone must get tested within 72 hours of arrival and remain in self-quarantine until they get a negative result.
Queensland
The Queensland government has extended border restrictions to all of greater Sydney, including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour.
People who live in or have visited these areas are barred from entering the state, unless they are granted a special exemption.
If you are a Queensland resident returning from these areas, you will need to quarantine at a hotel for 14 days at your own expense.
If you are not a Queensland resident, and you have been to these areas, you need to apply for an exemption, and if that is granted, you will need to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days at your own expense.
Everyone else will need to complete a travel declaration form up to three days prior to arrival to enter the state.
As of 2 July, no areas of the NT or of WA were declared Covid-19 hotspots by the Queensland government so travel is permitted, if a travel declaration form is signed.
From 1am on Monday 28 June, NSW border zone residents will also be required to complete a travel declaration to enter Queensland.
Western Australia
Border restrictions with NSW and with Queensland has been reinstated, meaning no one who has been in either state is allowed to enter, without an exemption. That applies to anyone who has been in NSW since 11 June (unless they have since spent 14 days outside of NSW or Queensland).
From 3pm Tuesday 29 June, non-WA residents will not be able to fly into the state from Queensland without an exemption.
Restrictions are in place for people coming from Victoria, the NT and the ACT, which means anyone entering from those states or territories must go through 14 days’ quarantine and be tested.
SA and Tasmania are the only states that do not have quarantine restrictions. Arrivals will still have to complete the mandatory G2G pass registration and declaration, as well as completing a health screening on arrival.
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Australian Capital Territory
The ACT has issued a stay-at-home order for all of greater Sydney, as well as the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong and Shellharbour.
Non-ACT residents who have been in greater Sydney in the past 14 days will not be allowed into the ACT except in limited cases where exemptions are granted, and people who are given an exemption will still need to comply with the stay-at-home order.
Residents arriving back in the ACT who had been in greater Sydney since Monday 21 June will need to complete an online declaration form, and go direct to where they intend to stay for the stay-at-home period until at least 11.59pm on Friday 9 July, or until 14 days have passed since they were last in these areas – whichever is earlier.
People entering the ACT must complete an online declaration form 24-hours prior to travel if they have, in the past 14 days, been in the greater Darwin area or Alice Springs in the NT; greater Brisbane and southeast Queensland including Townsville and Palm Island; the greater Melbourne area in Victoria; and the Perth and Peel region of WA.
In addition, anyone arriving from any state or territory must check the close contact and casual contact exposure locations (listed here). Anyone who has visited a close contact exposure location cannot enter the ACT without an exemption. Anyone who has visited a casual contact location must complete a self-declaration form, and isolate until a negative test result.
Travellers from all other states and jurisdictions can travel freely to the ACT.
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South Australia
South Australia has closed its border with NSW, Western Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT. For NSW, a 100km buffer zone is in place to allow people living near the border, including in Broken Hill, to travel into SA.
South Australian residents, people genuinely relocating to SA, or anyone escaping domestic violence can enter, but will still need to self-quarantine for a fortnight.
People from anywhere in Victoria, or who have visited the area within 14 days of arriving in SA, must get a Covid test on day one and must self-quarantine until that test is taken, but not while they wait for a result. People in the 70km border buffer zone have unrestricted entry into SA provided they have not left that buffer zone in the previous 14 days.
All travellers coming to South Australia must complete the Cross Border Travel Registration form prior to their trip.
Northern Territory
All interstate arrivals to the Northern Territory must fill in a border entry form.
People in Greater Sydney, Wollongong, and the Central Coast of NSW, as well as the City of Brisbane and Moreton Bay region of Queensland, will not be able to enter without 14 days’ quarantine.
Anyone currently in the NT who is deemed a close contact by the NSW, Queensland or WA governments must undertake 14 days of quarantine in their home or at a suitable place. Any casual contacts must isolate, get a Covid-19 test and remain in self-quarantine until a negative test is returned.
Travellers from greater Melbourne no longer need to go into quarantine.
Tasmania
Tasmania has closed its borders to any travellers from the greater Sydney area, the Perth and Peel region of WA, greater Darwin in the NT and 13 local government areas in Queensland, including Brisbane, Gold Coast and Townsville.
No one from the areas can enter Tasmania unless they have special permission from the deputy state controller.
As with other states and territories, all arrivals into Tasmania must provide their contact and travel details before entering the state.
A ban on people travelling from metropolitan Melbourne has been lifted, with the city downgraded to low risk.
Anyone who has been to an exposure site in Victoria, NSW, ACT and Queensland are not permitted to enter the state.
New Zealand
Quarantine-free travel to New Zealand has resumed from the ACT, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.
It is paused from NSW, the NT, Queensland and WA until at least 11.59pm on Tuesday 6 July. Travellers to New Zealand must not have been in NSW on or after 11.59pm on 22 June or in Queensland, WA, and the NT on or after 10.30pm on 26 June.
Australian travellers will be required to produce a negative Covid-19 test before departing.
Due to the unprecedented and ongoing nature of the coronavirus outbreak, this article is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation at the date of publication. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions of the article will be footnoted in line with Guardian editorial policy.