On 16 October, the Queensland Government released an updated roadmap to easing restrictions indicating when limits on gatherings, weddings and outdoor events will be relaxed further and a timeline for opening the New South Wales border.
Easing of restrictions
Current restrictions (effective 16 October)
Family, friends and community
- Private gatherings (eg at home), maximum 40 people
- Outdoor gatherings, maximum 40 people
- Weddings and funerals, maximum 100 people
- Museums, art galleries, libraries and historic sites, 1 person per 4m2
- Sport, recreation and fitness organisations can operate under a COVID Safe Industry Plan
Business and economy
- Venues more than 200m2: businesses can have 1 person per 4m2
- Venues below 200m2: businesses can have 1 person per 2m2 up to 50 people at a time
- For outdoor dining areas: one customer per 2m2
More information
Movement and Gatherings
- Further information from the Queensland Government
- Full Public Health Direction
Restrictions on Businesses, Activities and Undertakings
- Further information from the Queensland Government
- Full Public Health Direction
For more information on these regulations, or to report a breach, contact Queensland Health by phone on 13 4 COVID (13 4 26843), use their online form or email healthdirections@health.qld.gov.au.
More information
Queensland borders
Update: from 3 November there will be changes to the border closure with New South Wales. From 1am on 3 November, the border with NSW will reopen, except for people who have been in Greater Sydney in the past 14 days.
The Queensland border has reopened to anyone from Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
The border is closed to non-Queensland residents who have been in a hot spot in the past 14 days.
Current hot spots:
- All of Victoria
- All of NSW minus the 'border zone'
Queensland residents returning to the State (and exempt people) who have been in a hot spot in the past 14 days will need to enter Queensland by air (not by road) and quarantine in a State-assigned hotel, at their own expense, unless they can prove that they have been in quarantine for the 14 days prior to entry.
Quarantine costs:
- $2,800 for 1 adult
- $3,710 for 2 adults
- $4,620 for 2 adults and 2 children.
Anyone entering Queensland, including Queensland residents, will need a Queensland Border Declaration Pass. This includes agreeing to get tested for COVID-19 if you develop any symptoms within 14 days of arrival.
More information
Travel to remote communities
All intrastate travel restrictions, including entry and quarantine requirements, have been removed from all of Queensland’s remote communities.
Staying home, movement and gatherings
Eased restrictions from 11 May:
People can leave their principal place of residence to attend:
- community kindergarten, Prep, Year 1, Year 11 or Year 12 of schooling;
- Years 2 to 10 of schooling if schooling cannot reasonably be provided from home e.g. children of essential workers.
Eased restrictions effective from 10 May:
- you are allowed to leave your house to visit someone else at their house. Households can have two visitors from the same or different households, or up to five visitors from the same household, regardless of how many people live there.
- Travel advice regarding Mother's Day is contained in the Queensland Government's A message to Queenslanders this Mother's Day
Eased restrictions effective from 2 May:
Residents may travel for recreation purposes within a 50km radius of their principal place of residence. People may conduct these activities with members of their immediate household (people who normally live together) or as an individual with one other person.
Activities that will be permitted include:
- Go for a picnic (as a household or as an individual with friend)
- Visit a national park
- Drive a car, ride a motorbike, jet ski, go boating or other vehicle for pleasure
- Teach someone in your household how to drive
- Shop for non-essentials as long as you maintain a 1.5 metre distance
Essential goods and services
You are able to leave the house to obtain essential goods and services, which is limited to those goods and services needed for the necessities of life and operation of our society.
- To obtain essential goods and services
- Receive medical treatment, health care or social services including employment services, domestic and family violence services, and child protection services
- Exercise (with one other person, or members of your family)
- Do work or volunteering that is essential and cannot be done from home (this is any type of work that is not restricted under the latest ‘non-essential business activity and undertaking closure’ direction)
- Visit another person’s house (visitor limits apply)
- Visit a terminally ill relative or attend a funeral (funeral attendance limits apply)
- Assist, care for or support immediate family members
- Attend Court or tribunal or comply with a Court or tribunal order
- Attend a childcare facility, school, university, or other educational institution to receive instruction that is not possible to receive at home
- Assist with an investigation by police or other law enforcement authority
- All shared custody arrangements of children under 18 years of age, whether informal or court-ordered, can continue as normal. You are allowed to leave the house to take children from one parent’s home to the other parent’s home
- To avoid illness, injury or the risk of harm
- To comply with directions of a government agency
- To donate blood
If you need to go out, maintain a 1.5m distance from other people wherever practical.
People in the following at-risk groups are encouraged to stay home as much as practical for their own protection. It is also strongly discouraged to visit people in these groups.
- People aged 70 or over
- People aged 60 or over with a chronic illness
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 with a chronic illness
More information
- Read the full Home Confinement, Movement and Gathering Public Health Direction
- Read the FAQs on this direction ( PDF, 0.27 MB )
- Travel advice regarding Mother's Day is contained in the Queensland Government's A message to Queenslanders this Mother's Day
Penalties
The following fines apply to breaches of home quarantine and social distancing breaches.
If a person does not comply with quarantine directions, penalties of up to $13,345 for individuals and $66,672.50 for corporations may apply.
Police can also issue on the spot fines of $1334.50 for individuals and $6,672.50 for corporations which fail to abide by the health directions.
Home Medicines Service
The Home Medicines Service is a temporary program for people in home isolation and for vulnerable patient groups who wish to limit their potential exposure to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the community. It provides home delivery of medicines from any pharmacy approved to dispense and supply Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) medicines.
You can order other items to be delivered to you from the pharmacy, if it is part of the same order. This includes over-the-counter painkillers, tissues and hand sanitizers - but these must be combined in a single delivery with one or more PBS/RPBS medicines.
The Home Medicines Service provides for one, no-cost delivery per month. If you need more than one delivery per month, your pharmacy may charge a fee.
- Speak directly to your pharmacist about ordering your medicines, delivery times, urgent medicine needs and any other questions you have about the Home Medicines Service.
- Visit the Pharmacy Programs Administrator website for more on the Home Medicines Service including eligibility and consent.
Self isolation
Self-isolation means you must stay at home or in your hotel room for 14 days. You must self-isolate if you:
- have coronavirus
- have been in close contact with someone who has coronavirus
- arrived from overseas
- arrived in Queensland from a declared hotspot
If you need assistance, such as delivery of food and essential items, while in self isolation you can call the Community Recovery Hotline 1800 173 349 operated by the Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors.
