Australia’s big shift to living with COVID-19 has been supercharged over the past week. Momentum for reopening Australia now seems unstoppable.
Victoria has announced a range of new freedoms coming into effect from Friday to coincide with the state reaching its 70 per cent vaccine milestone.
The ACT has hit its 80 per cent double vaccination mark and is rapidly easing restrictions on businesses and the community.
Queensland has revealed a plan to progressively reopen its border to vaccinated interstate residents by Christmas.
South Australia and the Northern Territory have also announced that border controls will be wound back once 80 per cent double vaccination targets have been met. While Tasmania has committed to ease border restrictions at 90 per cent, a target likely to be achieved before Christmas.
From 1 November New South Wales will do away with quarantine requirements for international arrivals if they are fully vaccinated and have returned a negative test, initially applying only to Australian citizens and residents.
Western Australia now stands alone as the only jurisdiction without a transition plan. While vaccination rates need to advance considerably before WA’s borders can reopen, having a plan for this inevitability would be a welcome confidence booster for the local economy.
After a week of big announcements, the focus of government and business leaders will be on assessing the health situation as the shift occurs. Property Council members will be focused on the wellbeing of staff and occupants of their assets, as they have been over the last 22 months.
The core focus of the Property Council’s advocacy will be to ensure that regulations concerning the transition are appropriate, that government policies support the reactivation of our CBDs, and that the setting are in place to enable the property industry to drive our economic recovery.