Australia's travel ban on eight southern African countries in response to concerns over the Omicron variant has been scrapped by the federal government.
Previously, the restrictions had applied to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, and Malawi since 29 November.
This meant anyone who had been in these countries and was not an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or their immediate family were denied entry to Australia.
In a statement, Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the ban was no longer necessary due to the spread of Omicron to other countries around the world.
"Given the global spread of Omicron, international border bans are no longer a proportionate or effective means to contain the spread of Omicron," he said.
"At this stage there are no direct flights from Southern Africa to Australia and only Australian citizens, permanent residents, immediate family members, parents and eligible visa holders are able to enter Australia."
The relaxation of the travel ban was made in line with the decisions of other nations such as the United Kingdom.
The travel ban had prompted criticism from diplomats from African countries who had labelled the measure as "discriminatory" and not "equitable [and] fair."
Health authorities said it was implemented to give them time to assess the severity and transmissibility of the Omicron variant.
Since the new, heavily-mutated variant was first detected in southern Africa last month, it has been reported in 77 countries, according to the World Health Organization.
There have been more than 13,000 cases of Omicron detected globally, with 109 of those in Australia.
Australian citizens, permanent residents and immediate family members had also been required to go "into immediate supervised quarantine for 14 days" under the previous restrictions.
