“We look forward to welcoming you back to Australia if you’re double vaccinated,” Morrison said during a press conference. Visa holders who are not fully vaccinated will still require a valid travel exemption to enter Australia and will be subject to state and territory quarantine requirements.

Today’s announcement will give certainty to Australia’s vital tourism industry, and allow them to start planning, hiring and preparing for reopening. Also, Morrison Government started Australia’s staged international border reopening on 1 November 2021, and from that onwards, Australia has seen almost 580,000 arrivals including to reunite with loved ones, work or study.

Australia has been gradually reopening its borders after closing them in March 2020, allowing only its citizens and residents, skilled migrants, international students, and some seasonal workers in.

To enter the country, the government currently requires all international visitors to be vaccinated or provide proof of a medical vaccination exemption. While the highly transmissible Omicron strain of Covid-19 continues to spread, hospitalizations and deaths in Australia have stabilised.