March 3, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier | Image credit: Tourism Western Australia
After almost two years of stop-start border closures – including an increasingly hard border through the second half of 2021 – Western Australia has finally reopened both its domestic and international border, as of midnight last night.
In a quirk of the border reopening, with the state government setting the rules for interstate arrivals while the federal government handles those coming from overseas, domestic travellers, including those flying into other Australian states from overseas then connecting into Western Australia will require three vaccine doses, while those on direct international flights into Perth only require two vaccine doses to enter the state.
All arrivals must still complete the G2G border pass and must take a rapid antigen test within 12 or 24 hours of arriving in the state, depending on the mode of transport, and report any positive result to health authorities.
With Western Australia’s reopening, it’s the first time there has been freedom of travel across Australia since intermittent periods in the first half of 2021.
With the border opening and an Omicron wave underway in Western Australia, the state has introduced restrictions from today limiting capacity of hospitality and event venues and events.
Hospitality and non-seated venues are limited to a one-per-two-square-metre density and capped at 150 people with seated service only and forward-facing seated entertainment venues are limited to 50 per cent capacity while outdoor events are limited to 500 people with masks required.
Masks are also required in all indoor public areas around the state. WA reported 1,766 new local cases yesterday and just four at its borders yesterday.