An update has been made to the public activity restrictions in South Australia.
The Emergency Management (Cross Border Travel No 11) (COVID-19) Direction 2020 has been revoked and replaced by the Emergency Management (Cross Border Travel No 12) (COVID-19) Direction 2020. This new Direction comes into effect as of 0001 Friday 21 August 2020.
The new Direction provides an update to the restrictions currently in place for cross border travellers into and out of South Australia, requirements for maritime crew who arrive via aircraft into South Australia and self-quarantine requirements.
Cross Border Community Member Essential Travellers
As of 12:01am on 21 August Cross Border Community Members are not permitted to travel across the border between South Australia and Victoria unless for the purposes of:
- Undertaking year 11 or 12 high school education at a secondary school;
- Transporting by private vehicle a person who is undertaking year 11 or year 12 high school education; or
- Undertaking agricultural/primary industry work at a VIC/SA location which is situated at or near the SA border.
The person must not stop in any township or built up area (unless obtaining a COVID-19 test) or remain in either state for any other purpose than to undertake agricultural/primary industry work or transporting a person undertaking year 11 or 12. Where a person is undertaking agricultural / primary industry work they must wear a surgical face mask while undertaking the work if they cannot maintain a distance of at least 1.5m from other people. Similarly, if the person transporting a year 11 or year 12 high school student comes into contact with the public during an emergency (including vehicle breakdown) where they cannot maintain a distance of at least 1.5m they must wear a surgical face mask. A person travelling under this criteria and undertaking agricultural or primary industry work is no longer required to submit a Risk Mitigation Plan to SA Health and Wellbeing.
A person travelling the SA/VIC border as an approved cross border community member is not permitted to travel more than 40km into South Australia or Victoria from the point at which they entered.
Residents of NSW and SA who are Cross Border Community Members are not permitted to travel further than 50km into South Australia or New South Wales from the point at which they entered, and travel is for essential purposes only.
Note- Cross Border Community Members at the SA/VIC border with an approved travel status do not need to apply for a new approval unless they are applying for a new Essential Traveller criteria. People with current Cross Border Community Member approvals who do not meet the Direction effective 21 August 2020 will have their approvals suspended and will not be permitted to enter South Australia under this Essential Traveller criteria.
Maritime Crew Entering SA via Aircraft
The direction has been updated to define that maritime crew who arrive in South Australia via aircraft from overseas must reside and remain, quarantine and segregated from other persons at a place determined by an authorised officer for a 14-day period commencing on the date of their arrival in South Australia.
Self-Quarantine Requirements
The direction has been amended to clarify requirements when self-quarantining in that once the person has arrived at the place to commence self-quarantining they must;
- Stay in that place segregated from other persons for the period beginning on the day of arrival and ending at midnight on the 14th day; and
- Where they are residing and remaining at short term accommodation they must inform the owner or operator that they are self-quarantining.
It is acknowledged that many restrictions still apply, but they are critical in dealing with the spread of COVID-19.
All existing directions, frequently asked questions and other information can be found here: https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/emergency-declarations
For further information please call the SA COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787 between the hours of 9am to 5pm 7 days per week or go to the SA Health website at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au or www.sa.gov.au/covid-19
