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Nearly 12,000 Australians were approved to travel abroad in May, a higher rate than the previous three months, despite the federal government’s pledge to consider tightening exemptions.
According to a Guardian Australia analysis of Australian Border Force (ABF) statistics, some 11,879 citizens and residents were granted exemptions in May, a jump of more than 10% from the average of 10,353 per month between February and April.
On May 7, the national cabinet agreed that the Commonwealth would consider tightening ABF travel restrictions for Australians traveling abroad and keeping the restrictions in place on travel requests to high-risk countries.
The resolution came at the height of India’s travel ban after a push by the governments of Western Australia and Victoria to tighten overseas travel exemptions.
Many heads of state, including the Liberal premiers of New South Wales and Tasmania, have said travel should always be limited to those who absolutely need to travel, but the federal government is considering testing restrictions relaxed for vaccinated people.
On June 1, Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed in the Coalition’s party hall that modeling was underway ahead of trials to allow vaccinated people to leave Australia and return with quarantine conditions less restrictive.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Jenny Lambert praised the plan, which she said corresponds to a proposal he called on the government two weeks ago to allow more vaccinated Australians to travel abroad and self-isolate on their return.
Australia’s reopening chamber plan is based on three key risk elements: the traveler’s immunization status; the risk profile of the traveler’s country of origin or destination; and the overall progress of Australia’s immunization program.
Lambert told Guardian Australia the first step is to allow vaccinated Australians to travel overseas and return to Australia, initially with some form of pilot model of an appropriate testing and quarantine regime.
On Monday, an ABF spokesperson said that from March 25, 2020 to May 31, 2021, it received 329,180 travel requests and granted 156,507 exemptions to citizens and permanent residents.
Some 84,031 were refused, the remainder being finalized, some of which were withdrawn, contained insufficient information or came from people already exempt.
According to a Guardian Australia analysis of ABF statistics provided in response to this and previous requests, Australia has seen an increase in the number of people leaving Australia between September and January.
In the first five months of the travel ban, ABF granted 40,833 exemptions at a rate of around 8,000 per month. But from September to January, some 72,734 exemptions were granted at the rate of about 14,500 per month.
From February to April, ABF granted 31,061 exemptions at the rate of approximately 10,350 per month. Despite the national cabinet resolution of May 7, some 23,836 requests were filed and 11,879 waivers were granted in May, an increase of 14% over the previous three months.
A Western Australian government spokesperson said the Commonwealth is responsible for international border controls, but WA does not support travel outside of Australia unless absolutely necessary, and c that’s why we called on the Commonwealth to tighten up the exemption process.
Before heading to the G7 summit, Scott Morrison will meet with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday to discuss a potential travel bubble between Australia and Singapore, in addition to Australia’s unrestricted travel with New Zealand.
Australia closed its borders in March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, imposing a two-week hotel quarantine on those arriving in the country.
Earlier this month, the federal court upheld the legality of the foreign travel ban after a challenge by right-wing think tank Libertyworks.
With Australia struggling to vaccinate its population by the end of 2021, the federal government is under pressure to push for the vaccine and relax the travel ban that has separated families.
But allowing exemptions for overseas travel increases demand for those wishing to return, at a time when new dedicated facilities in Victoria could be in a year and New South Wales has warned it has not the ability to quarantine more people at the hotel.
Around 40,000 Australians remain stranded abroad due to theft caps imposed due to the limited number of quarantine beds in hotels.
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