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09/01/2020 | World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Chinese authorities made a preliminary determination of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan. | - |
21/01/2020 | COVID-19 is listed as a disease of pandemic potential under the Biosecurity Act 2015. | Health |
25/01/2020 | First case of COVID-19 in Australia is confirmed. | Health |
01/02/2020 | International travel restrictions are implemented for foreign nationals entering Australia from China. | Home Affairs; Health |
01/02/2020 | Travel advice for mainland China is raised to ‘Level 4 – Do not travel’. | DFAT |
3/02/2020; 9/02/2020 | DFAT organises assisted departure flights from Wuhan. | DFAT |
19/02/2020 | DFAT evacuates 164 passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship anchored in Tokyo. | DFAT |
1/03/2020 | Inward travel restrictions on foreign nationals entering Australia from Iran implemented. | Home Affairs |
5/03/2020 | Inward travel restrictions on foreign nationals entering Australia from South Korea implemented. | Home Affairs |
11/03/2020 | Inward travel restrictions on foreign nationals entering Australia from Italy implemented. | Home Affairs |
13/03/2020 | Travel advice for all countries raised to ‘Level 3 — Reconsider your need to travel’. | DFAT |
15/03/2020 | Compulsory 14-day self-isolation implemented for all international arrivals. | Home Affairs; Health |
18/03/2020 | Travel advice for all overseas countries raised to ‘Level 4 – Do not travel’. | DFAT |
18/03/2020 | Governor-General declares a human biosecurity emergency period until 17 June 2020 (this was extended throughout the pandemic to until it expired in April 2022). | Health |
20/03/2020 | Inward travel restrictions on foreign nationals entering Australia from any country implemented. | Home Affairs |
25/03/2020 | Outward travel restrictions on Australians travelling overseas implemented. | Health; Home Affairs |
26/03/2020—29/03/2020 | DFAT arranges facilitated flights from Peru, Argentina, South Africa, Nepal, and Uruguay, including passengers from the Ocean Atlantic cruise ship. | DFAT |
28/03/2020 | Mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated hotels and other facilities implemented by states and territories. | Health; Home Affairs; PM&C |
10/07/2020 | National Cabinet agrees on incoming passenger caps at major international airports. | DITRDC |
2/09/2020 | The Overseas Financial Assistance (Hardship) Program is announced. | DFAT |
18/09/2020 | National Cabinet agrees to increase the availability of quarantine places. Prime Minister states that government would seek to return overseas Australians by Christmas. | - |
21/09/2020 | Taskforce established to bring back Australians registered with DFAT (as at 18 September) by Christmas 2020. | DFAT |
13/10/2020 | DFAT and Qantas enter into an agreement for flight services for 12 months. | DFAT |
20/10/2020 | The Australian Government enters into an agreement with the Northern Territory Government to establish the Centre for National Resilience at Howard Springs, with quarantine capacity for 500 individuals a fortnight. | Health |
22/02/2021 | The agreement for Howard Springs is varied to increase capacity to 2,000 individuals a fortnight from May 2021. | Health |
27/04/2021 | Flights from India to Australia are suspended. | DITRDC |
14/05/2021 | Flights from India for returning Australians resume. | DITRDC |
28/10/2021 | The Australian Government removes the global ‘Do not travel’ advice for all destinations. | DFAT |
1/11/2021 | Fully vaccinated Australians permitted to travel overseas. | Health; Home Affairs |
21/11/2021 | DFAT closes its COVID-19 registration portal. | DFAT |
1/12/2021 | Australian international borders reopened to fully vaccinated eligible visa holders. | Health; Home Affairs |
21/02/2022 | Australian international borders reopened to include all fully vaccinated visa holders. | Health; Home Affairs |
6/07/2022 | Australian international borders reopened to include unvaccinated visa holders. | Home Affairs |