Your ticket out of Australia: How vaccinated Aussies may be eligible for overseas travel exemptions 

Australians could be eligible for overseas travel exemptions if they have received both doses of the Covid vaccine.

To encourage Aussies to get the jab, National Cabinet is reportedly weighing up the move – which would also fast track the already lagging rollout.

‘Where there are outbreaks or issues regarding state borders, there is the potential for those who have been fully vaccinated to be exempt from some of those restrictions,’ Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Monday.

Last month Scott Morrison said despite working on a plan for vaccinated Australians to be able to go overseas and isolate at home, he admitted it would only be for ‘essential travel’ at first.  

‘What I’m working on right now, is that where an Australian is vaccinated under our program, when they will be able to travel overseas,’ he said.

To encourage Aussies to get the jab, National Cabinet is reportedly weighing up the move – which would also fast track the already lagging rollout

‘I would think in the initial stages, particularly for essential purposes, business, things like that, medical reasons, friends and family, important events, funerals, so on.

‘That could be done and return to Australia without the need for a hotel quarantine of 14-days and to be able to do that either at home or under some other less stringent environment than you have with hotel quarantine.

‘Now that would require being vaccinated and I think that would be an important incentive for people to do that.’

The Prime Minister on Monday refused to reveal the benchmark for reopening the international border, saying only that restrictions will remain in place until it is safe to do anything different.

‘It’s not safe to take those next steps right now, it’s not. But we’ll keep working on what the next steps are,’ he told reporters in Queensland on Monday.

Mr Morrison is taking comfort in broad support for the closed border.

Three in four people believe Australia’s international border should remain closed until at least the middle of next year.

However, there is a growing push from the business community and within government ranks to open the border sooner than planned.

A poll published by The Australian has found 73 per cent of voters think the border should stay closed until at least mid-2022.

Only one in five people believes the border should open as soon as all Australians who want to be are vaccinated.

Last month Scott Morrison said despite working on a plan for vaccinated Australians to be able to go overseas and isolate at home, he admitted it would only be for ‘essential travel’ at first 

Three in four people believe Australia’s international border should remain closed until at least the middle of next year

But a group of Liberal MPs including Jason Falinski want the country to reopen as soon as possible.

They also want vaccinated Australians to be given a greater opportunity to travel overseas.

Mr Falinski said it was understandable people had adopted a ‘fortress mentality’ during the coronavirus pandemic.

‘But it doesn’t need to be that way,’ he told Seven.

‘We spent a lot of money keeping families safe, we don’t want to keep them apart.’

Mr Falinski wants people who are vaccinated to be able to reunite with friends and family overseas. 

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet agrees, and has warned against letting populism determine public policy.

‘It’s the role of political leaders not to be following the polling or looking at what focus groups are saying,’ Mr Perrottet told Sky News.

‘The job is to lead and communicate and bring Australian people with us.’