Open Borders between Victoria and NSW from today

Open Borders between Victoria and NSW from today

Australia's two biggest states have declared their joint border will open at midnight on Thursday, 4th November  allowing free travel for everyone from Greater Sydney into Victoria for the first time in months.

Dominic Perrottet and Daniel Andrews issued a joint statement saying the decision was part of normalising living with Covid-19.

“NSW is set to pass 90 per cent double dose vaccination in the near future, with Victoria not far behind, allowing family and friends to be reunited in the lead up to Christmas after many months of being separated,” Mr Perrottet said.

Mr Andrews said he was delighted to be able to have “free travel” between the two states whose residents had “been through so much over the last few months”.

For the first time in more than six months, every local government area in Australia will be considered a green zone for the purposes of entering Victoria.

Travellers and workers who arrive from a green zone face no testing or quarantine requirements, but are still required to obtain an entry permit from Service Victoria.

But anyone those without two jabs still faces heavy restrictions on arrival in Victoria, or trying to cross the border from the southern state into NSW.

There are no requirements for fully vaccinated Victorians entering NSW, unless they have been to an exposure site the NSW government considers a “place of high concern”.

Anyone over 16 who hasn't had two jabs won't be allowed to enter NSW from Victoria for recreation or a holiday, according to the two state governments.

In NSW 93.8 per cent of people aged over 16 have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 89.1 per cent have received both doses.

Those rates are respectively 92.7 per cent and 82.5 per cent in Victoria.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews both thanked residents for making the change possible by getting vaccinated.