Australia to lift all outbound travel restrictions for fully vaccinated on 1 November

Over half a million Australians have downloaded their international vaccination certificate

Planes flying out of Sydney Airport (Getty Images)

Australia has announced that it will lift all outbound travel restrictions on its fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents from 1 November.

Double jabbed Australians will no longer need to apply for special exemption to travel rules in order to leave the country, as has been the case for the past 18 months of the pandemic.

The rule change was announced on Wednesday by President Scott Morrison, in an interview on Australia’s 7News channel.

Mr Morrison also said that over half a million Australians have already downloaded their international vaccination certificate, the proof of vaccination that they will need to travel abroad.

Australia has been steadily lifting Covid-related restrictions on the ground in its various states over the past month, thanks to a successful vaccine rollout that has seen 74 per cent of over 16s fully vaccinated.

On Wednesday, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) also approved a Pfizer booster shot for over 18s, which is expected to be rolled out from mid November.

Last week, the state of Victoria confirmed that it would be removing quarantine for fully vaccinated inbound visitors from 1 November, following the state of New South Wales, which announced the same policy in early October.

The country’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also announced that Australia will start a “travel bubble” arrangement in the coming weeks.

The air corridor will operate in a similar way to Australia’s present air corridor with New Zealand, with vaccinated visa holders able to fly in, and students and business travellers initially prioritised.

“We anticipate that being able to be achieved within the next week or so as we would open up to more visa class holders coming out of Singapore,” said Mr Morrison on 22 October.

On Tuesday, Singapore confirmed that it will allow quarantine-free entry to fully vaccinated travellers from Australia from November 8, with Mr Morrison saying a reciprocal arrangement will be announced soon.

The Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, tweeted: “Delighted to hear that Australia will be allowing entry to visa holders from Singapore. Look forward to resuming close connectivity between our countries, as we move towards an endemic Covid future”.

No set date has been announced for allowing UK travellers into Australia, but Qantas boss Alan Joyce has indicated that the national airline will be opening routes to New Delhi, Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Johannesburg, Fiji and Bali before Christmas.