To all the Aussies out there Australians who live abroad could be denied permission to leave if they return home to visit loved ones

[ezzra]

Lifted from News.co.au

Australians who normally live abroad will no longer be given an automatic exemption to leave the country if they return for a holiday or to visit loved ones.

Since March last year, all Australians seeking to leave Australia have had to apply for an exemption to do so. Exemptions can only be granted for employment, medical treatment not available in Australia, compassionate or compelling grounds, unavoidable personal business, or if your travel was in the national interest.

Until now, if an Australian citizen was ordinarily a resident in another country, they were automatically exempt.

But this week Health Minister Greg Hunt quietly expanded the restrictions to include Australian citizens or permanent residents. From August 11, Australians who ordinarily live in another country will also have to apply for an exemption to leave the country.

A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews insisted the government was simply closing a loophole. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel CarrettSource:News Corp Australia

The government did not alert the public to the change.

In an explanatory statement, the Health Department said the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet were all consulted on the amendment. It’s understood to also be supported by health advice from chief medical officer Paul Kelly.

“The exemption was not intended to enable frequent travel between countries,” the statement read.

“The amendment will reduce the pressure on Australia’s quarantine capacity, reduce the risks posed to the Australian population from Covid-19, and assist in returning vulnerable Australians back home.

“A person will no longer be able to rely on an automatic exemption to travel overseas where they ordinarily reside in a country other than Australia.”

A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews told NCA NewsWire the changes would “improve consistency on border measures for all Australians”.

“These restrictions provide a balanced approach between allowing Australians to travel, if essential, while protecting community health,” they said.

“The exemptions regimen is based on health advice and enables people to travel if essential but is ultimately about keeping Australians safe from overseas Covid transmission.”

Since the government closed Australia’s borders under the Biosecurity Act, the number of Australians in the queue to return home has ballooned to more than 35,000.

[ubonjoe]

58 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Lifted from News.co.au

Please post a link to the the article. That is a requirement when posting news articles.

[ripstanley]

Story from the ABC   https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-06/covid-rules-australians-overseas-visit-home-change-exemption/100356366

[gk10012001]

Why in the world would or does a country limit people from leaving!!?  If another country allows them to enter, then why should the home country have the right to intervene?  This just astounds me.  People are being kept as prisoners literally in a big cage.  If people are retired, or independently wealthy, or have the means or time to travel, then get the heck out of their way

[Will27]

I wish it was easy to get back than it is to leave Oz TBH.

[gk10012001]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

“The exemptions regimen is based on health advice and enables people to travel if essential but is ultimately about keeping Australians safe from overseas Covid transmission.”

 I am an adult and can seek my own counsel and make my own decisions about where I travel and my personal safety.  It disgusts me if the country really is trying to say they are prohibiting travel to protect me.

[DavisH]

4 minutes ago, gk10012001 said:

 I am an adult and can seek my own counsel and make my own decisions about where I travel and my personal safety.  It disgusts me if the country really is trying to say they are prohibiting travel to protect me.

No sure how not being allowed to leave "protects Australian citizens". They have already crippled their tourism industry (and the International education cash cow), and now this? Ridiculous. 

[gk10012001]

1 minute ago, DavisH said:

No sure how not being allowed to leave "protects Australian citizens". They have already crippled their tourism industry (and the International education cash cow), and now this? Ridiculous. 

yep.  Maybe be careful about letting them back in without testing and what not, but not allowing them to leave is ridiculous

[GroveHillWanderer]

2 minutes ago, DavisH said:

No sure how not being allowed to leave "protects Australian citizens". They have already crippled their tourism industry (and the International education cash cow), and now this? Ridiculous. 

It is explained by one of the quotes in the article, saying that:

 

"The exemption was not intended to enable frequent travel between countries.”

 

What they are saying is that if Aussies living abroad could get an automatic exemption every single time, they would be able to go in and out of the country as often as they liked, which would obviously carry an increased risk of them bringing a Covid infection back at some point.

 

If the basic idea is to minimise the amount of potential Covid carriers coming into the country, then giving a whole bunch of people an automatic right to go back and forth as frequently as they wanted, would not serve that end.

[gk10012001]

20 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

It is explained by one of the quotes in the article, saying that:

 

"The exemption was not intended to enable frequent travel between countries.”

 

What they are saying is that if Aussies living abroad could get an automatic exemption every single time, they would be able to go in and out of the country as often as they liked, which would obviously carry an increased risk of them bringing a Covid infection back at some point.

 

If the basic idea is to minimise the amount of potential Covid carriers coming into the country, then giving a whole bunch of people an automatic right to go back and forth as frequently as they wanted, would not serve that end.

Going back and forth is completely different than being able to leave.  Coming back and entering Australia is different than leaving.  Coming back, sure have some checks, quarantines, testing or whatever. But blocking leaving, and trying to say that enables future returning is obscene reasoning

[ripstanley]

I haven't been back for 6 years and I cant see me returning for a long time. 

[G Rex]

49 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

It is explained by one of the quotes in the article, saying that:

 

"The exemption was not intended to enable frequent travel between countries.”

 

What they are saying is that if Aussies living abroad could get an automatic exemption every single time, they would be able to go in and out of the country as often as they liked, which would obviously carry an increased risk of them bringing a Covid infection back at some point.

 

If the basic idea is to minimise the amount of potential Covid carriers coming into the country, then giving a whole bunch of people an automatic right to go back and forth as frequently as they wanted, would not serve that end.

Great explanation of the 'logic' behind this government decision. I think however when push comes to shove, any foreign resident is unlikely to be prevented from returning to their home - if they were, the media would have a field day!  I think they are trying to make expats think twice (or three times) before trying to return to Australia for any short stay.

Australia really is returning to its roots.  It started its (Western) life as a penal colony - and now once again the whole country is locked up!!

Despite the situation in Thailand now, I am very glad that I escaped last year..  

[simple1]

18 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

Why in the world would or does a country limit people from leaving!!?  If another country allows them to enter, then why should the home country have the right to intervene?  This just astounds me.  People are being kept as prisoners literally in a big cage.  If people are retired, or independently wealthy, or have the means or time to travel, then get the heck out of their way

The fact of the matter is outlined below, in other words the same process applies as Australians normally resident in Oz.

 

“This does not stop Australians ordinarily resident outside Australia from departing. However, these people will now need to apply for an exemption,” she said.

 

Yesterday I watched as an Australian moron refused to wear a mask in in a shopping centre in contradiction to current Queensland State law concerning Covid transmission reduction; the police arrested him and will have to pay a fine. The idiocy really annoys me as a member of our Thai family died a few weeks ago in Pattaya from Covid and my daughter in the UK has been suffering from 'long Covid" for six months. Covid 19 is a real threat yet ignoramuses never stop their ranting.

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by simple1

[VocalNeal]

Gotta keep that Aussie pension money at home? 

[fondue zoo]

18 hours ago, G Rex said:

if they were, the media would have a field day! 

There has already been past coverage of the issue, the government just keeps rattling off the "for the protection of all Australians" line.

[huangnon]

29 minutes ago, fondue zoo said:

There has already been past coverage of the issue, the government just keeps rattling off the "for the protection of all Australians" line.

Yep, every restriction, unfair law, and intrusion of privacy is in the name of protecting us from ourselves.

[scorecard]

On 8/6/2021 at 3:02 PM, GroveHillWanderer said:

It is explained by one of the quotes in the article, saying that:

 

"The exemption was not intended to enable frequent travel between countries.”

 

What they are saying is that if Aussies living abroad could get an automatic exemption every single time, they would be able to go in and out of the country as often as they liked, which would obviously carry an increased risk of them bringing a Covid infection back at some point.

 

If the basic idea is to minimise the amount of potential Covid carriers coming into the country, then giving a whole bunch of people an automatic right to go back and forth as frequently as they wanted, would not serve that end.

Regardless of why if was in place, the 'permission to leave' orders were totally cancelled several months ago. 

 

I left Sydney early December 2021, there was no requirement to show any form of 'permission to leave' document, it wasn't mentioned.