Stay-at-home order for travellers from Victoria

In response to the Victorian Government’s announcement of a lockdown for all of Victoria, the ACT Government will introduce a stay-at-home requirement for anyone who leaves Victoria after 11.59pm tonight (15 July 2021) and then enters the ACT.

At this time, these requirements will remain in place until 11.59pm Tuesday 20 July 2021, in line with the Victorian Government’s timeframes.

In addition, anyone who has been in Victoria on or after Thursday 8 July and left before 11.59pm tonight is required to complete an online declaration form. This is regardless of whether or not you are already in the ACT. This is to ensure we are able to contact people who have been in Victoria if the situation continues to evolve.

If you're in the ACT and have already completed the declaration form for travel from Greater Melbourne you do not need to submit another declaration unless you also visited areas in Victoria outside of Greater Melbourne.

The number of exposure sites and confirmed cases of community transmission in Melbourne is growing quickly. Implementing this stay-at-home order will not only help protect the ACT community from COVID-19, but also will reduce the likelihood of our community needing to tighten restrictions.

No travel to and from Victoria should take place at this time. If you must travel for essential reasons, you must abide by all public health directions in place in Victoria and the ACT. This includes changing travel plans and adhering to public health requirements upon your return.

If you are not an ACT resident you will not be able to enter the ACT without an approved exemption. Exemptions will only be granted for extraordinary circumstances, and even if an exemption is approved, you will still be required to follow the stay-at-home order in the ACT.

The rapidly unfolding situation in Victoria is concerning and we are continuing to monitor it closely. It is possible these restrictions on arrivals from Victoria may need to be tightened further to protect the ACT community, and people should be prepared for this to happen at short notice.

Stay-at-home requirements

If you are an ACT resident and leave Victoria after 11.59pm today, Thursday 15 July 2021, you will be required to:

• Complete an online declaration form within 24 hours prior to arriving in the ACT or within 24 hours from the commencement of the new stay-at-home requirements.
• Travel directly to the residence where you will spend the stay-at-home period. You should only leave the residence for an approved essential purpose. The stay-at-home requirement will be in place until at least 11.59pm on Tuesday 20 July 2021.
• Everyone aged over 12 years must wear a mask if leaving their premises for any of these essential purposes. Mask wearing is not required if undertaking vigorous exercise outdoors.

The ACT Government’s approved essential purposes for leaving home under stay-at-home orders are:

• To undertake essential work or study if you cannot work or study from home or remotely.
• For students to attend usual school and out of school hours care arrangements if a mask is worn (children aged 12 and under are not required to wear a mask).
• To attend usual childcare arrangements, where parents or guardians need to undertake essential work or study
• To shop for essentials like groceries, medicine and necessary supplies.
• To attend to medical or health care needs including compassionate requirements, and looking after the vulnerable.
• To attend a facility to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, where the individual is eligible for a vaccination in the ACT, an appointment has been booked, and the individual is not in isolation or in quarantine.
• To exercise outdoors, limited to one hour per day.
• For essential animal welfare purposes (e.g. to feed pets or livestock that live elsewhere).
• Leaving due to an emergency.

With COVID-19 cases now in multiple jurisdictions across Australia, people need to be alert and be prepared for the situation to change quickly.

All Canberrans should minimise their interstate travel at this time and be prepared to reconsider their plans at short notice. Canberrans should not be travelling to COVID-19 affected areas.

If you have recently travelled outside of the ACT you must check the ACT COVID-19 website regularly and follow the health advice if you have been in any of the exposure locations. In addition to the serious situations in NSW and Victoria, there have been exposure sites recorded in the past 14 days in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.

ACT Health is continuing to monitor the COVID situation in other jurisdictions very closely and will put in place further directions if required in order to keep our community safe. We will provide regular updates on the evolving situation.