Highlights
- Sarah, a Filipina from Victoria, was scheduled to pick up her newly-arrived migrant friend from Sydney.
- She is hoping her friend can find a flight to Melbourne, or else she would have to find another way to pick her up.
- The Service NSW website listed cases in which a permit to cross the border can be issued.
Beginning midnight, NSW Police and military personnel will be blocking roads on the VIC-NSW border.
While rules for the said closure will be flexible for the first 72 hours, the abrupt decision has caused confusion amongst those who had been planning to travel between the two states.
"I was scheduled to pick up my friend and her child in Sydney. This is their first trip to Australia and they just completed their hotel quarantine," Sarah, a Filipina from Denison, VIC, shares.
Sarah adds that her friend and her child don't know anyone in Sydney and are at a loss regarding what to do.
She hopes that the two will be able to catch a flight from Sydney to Melbourne; however, due to the pandemic and border closure, there are limited flights between the two states.
"If my friend can't find a flight, I need to apply for a permit so I can cross the border to pick them up. I'm waiting for more information regarding permits and if I am eligible."
According to the Service NSW website, the following are eligible to apply for a permit to cross the VIC-NSW border:
- a NSW resident returning home
- a cross-border resident
- a member of parliament or staff member
- a consular official
- a seasonal worker
- a boarding school/university student or a parent/guardian accompanying a student
- a carer for an individual entering NSW
- a person providing critical services, including:
- freight and logistics
- maintenance and repair of critical infrastructure
- medical or hospital care
- mining, agriculture, construction, engineering or manufacturing
- Commonwealth defence and security services.
Also those who are:
- transiting through NSW on your way home to your state/territory of residence
- entering for child access and care arrangements
- applying on compassionate grounds (e.g. visiting a terminally ill person). You will need to apply to NSW Health for a Compassionate permit exemption code before applying for your border entry permit.
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