NSW scraps quarantine for international travel from November 1

Fully-vaccinated travellers entering New South Wales will no longer need to complete 14 days of hotel or home quarantine as the Premier Dominic Perrottet made the important announcement on Friday in line with state prepares to hit its 80 per cent double-dose vaccination milestone on the weekend.

Fully vaccinated travellers with a TGA-approved vaccine, arriving into New South Wales from overseas will no longer have to quarantine from November 1. However arrivals will need to do a PCR test before boarding a flight and will need to prove their double-vaccination status.

“For double vaccinated people around the world, Sydney, New South Wales is open for business. We want people back. We are leading the nation out of the pandemic. Hotel quarantine, home quarantine is a thing of the past.” he said.

"We are opening Sydney and New South Wales to the world, and that date will come in on November 1st."

"I want to New South Wales the world. We need to rejoin the world. We can't live here in a hermit Kingdom”

"We've got to open up, and this decision today is a big one, but it is the right want to get New South Wales connected globally."

Mr Perrottet described the end of hotel quarantine is a major step towards opening the State to the world.

“There is absolutely no reason, if you are fully vaccinated, whether you are a returning Australian or tourist, that you should have to hotel quarantine,” he said.

“This will be a boon for most people coming home and it will be a boon for our tourism industry.

“We can’t live here in a hermit kingdom. We’ve got to open up, and this decision today is a big one, but it is the right want to get New South Wales connected globally.”

Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres told the press conference there would be no restrictions on where travellers are arriving from.

"There is no delineation between Australian citizens and other citizens of countries around the world," he said.

"The focal point here is a delineation between vaccination status so vaccinated and unvaccinated.

The Premier also announced several changes due to come into effect from November 1.

They include:

• Sydneysiders will be permitted to travel to regional NSW, and ACT residents can travel to Sydney, as announced by the ACT chief minister today

• Hotel quarantine “will be a thing of the past” with fully vaccinated Australians and international tourists alike able to enter the state without needing to quarantine

• The cap of 20 for bookings for restaurants and hospitality venues will also be removed

Health Minister Brad Hazzard praised the NSW community for reaching the 80 per cent double dose vaccination target, but warned vigilance was still required.

'The people of NSW have pulled together to achieve this fantastic outcome and bring us closer to life as we knew it before the pandemic, but we're not there yet,' he said.

'We can't forget that Covid is still circulating in NSW and we need to keep getting vaccinated to push the double dose rate even higher. We want to get as close to 100 per cent as possible to keep everyone safe.'