Victoria Has Fully Opened Its Border to New South Wales

Overview

Here's something that no one thought about before the pandemic: checking whether the border between Victoria and New South Wales was open or closed. Restrictions on travel between Australian states have been a big part of the past two years, as we've all had to live with. But overnight — from 11.59pm on Thursday, November 4, in fact — Victoria fully reopened to NSW.

The change means that all of NSW is now classed as a green zone under Victoria's traffic light-style border permit system, allowing all NSW residents to head south without quarantining or testing. That applies to both travellers and workers, and marks the first time in more than six months that Victoria has deemed the whole of Australia — every Local Government Area within the country, in fact — as green zones.

You do still need to get a permit under Victoria's border system, however, and you have to verify that you aren't COVID-19 positive — and that you aren't currently considered a close contact of a positive case and therefore required to isolate. But other than that, the border is open. And, it applies to everyone, whether or not you've had both jabs.

That said, Victoria does have different rules in place for the unvaxxed under its reopening roadmap, which visitors will need to abide by. So, those who haven't had two vaccinations will be under much stricter conditions while in the southern state.

For the trip vice versa, NSW is allowing free travel to Victorians, but only if they've had two jabs. If you fall into that category, there are no other requirements for entering New South Wales unless you've recently been to a venue deemed "of high concern" in Victoria.

Otherwise, if you're over the age of 16 and you aren't double-vaxxed, you still can't enter NSW for recreation.

The border change comes just days after NSW dropped its quarantine requirements for double-vaxxed Victorian travellers, on Monday, November 1, and a couple of weeks after Victoria did the reverse.

And yes, the summer of 2021–22 is shaping up to be the summer of travel, as Australia's borders start to reopen. That's now applying internationally, much to the delight of everyone who has long been dreaming of an overseas holiday. And, albeit at different stages as Aussie states open up at their own rates, it's kicking in domestically as well — with Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia recently announcing when they'll reopen their borders, too.

For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Victoria, head over to the Victorian Government's website.

Top image: Mulwala Bridge by Yun Huang Yong via Flickr.