Last updated 11.30 AM Thursday 26 March
A State of Emergency has been declared in Western Australia under the Emergency Management Act. Under the State of Emergency declaration, a Direction was enforced from 1:30pm Tuesday that will restrict Western Australian borders in the interests of limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the community. The Direction impacts travellers by road, sea, air and rail. You can access the full Direction here.
The s.67 Direction broadly defines exemptions for "specialist" and "essential" workers required for industry continuity and maintenance of operations, including FIFO personnel who regularly travel interstate for work purposes.
All personnel arriving from interstate are required to complete an Arrivals Form stating they are an 'Essential Worker' ('Specialist Skills'), and therefore exempt from WA self-quarantine requirements. WA Police are on the ground at the airport overseeing this declaration process.
Companies need to be proactive in supporting resources sector personnel arriving from interstate. Best practice measures include:
- Companies having representatives present at the airport to assist with clearing personnel on arrival.
- Ensuring all personnel carry ID (identifying their role and employing company) and a copy of travel itinerary (issued by company travel) to assist with this process.
- As a last resort, personnel must have access to a company 'hotline' number who can assist with verifying their status and travel movements.
- Ensure personnel comply by undertaking all reasonable steps to avoid coming within 1.5 metres of another person at any time (including while transiting through the airport).
- WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson did not rule out police officers essentially locking down individual towns or cities, with no one allowed in or out.
The Premier said West Australians needed to call off any planned travel inside the state that was not essential, including Easter holidays. At this point, measures about intrastate travel are still technically "advice" but that may change soon. A second property or a holiday home in another region would not equate to a free pass to travel the state.
The WA resources sector has an agreed framework with the WA Government (which is being enforced by WA Police). If you are a resources sector worker, you can continue to go to work.
For the latest official updates on COVID-19 please visit https://www.australia.gov.au/
and https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
