Easing of restrictions
The Queensland Government's step-down approach to eased restrictions contains staged plans.
From noon on 3 July the following is allowed:
Family, friends and community
- Private, non-commercial (e.g. home) gatherings of up to 100 with friends and family
- Weddings and funerals, maximum 100 people
- Museums, art galleries, libraries and historic sites, 1 person per 4m2
- Sport, recreation and fitness organisations (COVID Safe Industry Plan)
- Resumption of activity including competition and physical contact is permitted on the field of play
- Indoor sports facilities can open with 1 person per 4m2 (off the field of play)
- Outdoor sports facilities can open with physical distancing (off the field of play)
Business and economy
- Maximum number of customers for a business at any one time is 1 person per 4m2
- For venues below 200m2, businesses can have one person per 2m2 up to 50 persons at a time
- The following businesses and areas may re-open with a COVID Safe Plan:
- casinos, gaming and gambling venues (including electronic gaming machines)
- non-therapeutic massage
- saunas and bathhouses
- nightclubs
- food courts
Events
- Concert venues, theatres and auditoriums, up to 50% capacity or 1 person per 4m2 (whichever is the greater), with a COVID Safe Plan
- More events allowed:
- fewer than 500 people – no approval needed when following a COVID Safe Event Checklist
- 500 to 10,000 people – need a COVID Safe Event Plan approved by local public health units
- over 10,000 people – need a COVID Safe Event Plan approved by the Queensland Chief Health Officer
COVID Safe Industry Plans continue to apply with revisions to reflect changes in Stage 3. COVID Safe Checklists continue to apply.
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
The Queensland border has reopened to anyone from New South Wales*, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory 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
- Greater Sydney
From 1am on Saturday 8 August all of NSW and the ACT will become hot spots.
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 travel restrictions, including entry and quarantine requirements, have been removed from all of Queensland’s remote communities.
The whole of Queensland now operates under the Roadmap to easing Queensland’s restrictions.
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 in Australia after midnight on 15 March 2020 (at a Government assigned hotel)
- arrived in Queensland after midday on 3 July if you have been in a declared hotspot in the previous 14 days (at a Government assigned hotel)
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.
