The Emergency Management (Cross Border Travel No 3) (COVID-19) Direction 2020 has been revoked and replaced by the Emergency Management (Cross Border Travel No 4) (COVID-19) Direction 2020. This new Direction comes into effect at 0001hrs on Monday 11 May 2020.
The new direction now introduces a number of changes regarding persons considered to be essential travellers.
An Essential traveller must now keep records of close contacts for a 14 day period commencing on the date of their arrival in South Australia (or, if they remain in South Australia for a period of less than 14 days, for that period).
A person is a close contact of another person if they are in the company of the other person—
(i) within an enclosed space for a period of 2 hours or longer; or
(ii) within 1.5 metres of the other person for a period of 15 minutes or longer; and
The records that are required to be kept in relation to a close contact are —
(i) the name and phone number or other contact details of the close contact and the location at which the close contact occurred; or
(ii) if the details are not known and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain those details—the time during which and location at which the close contact occurred.
The records must be retained for a period of 28 days from the end of the period for which the records must be kept and be provided to an authorised officer on request.
(Note: The requirement to keep records does not apply to essential travellers referred to in Schedule 1 under clause 1, 5(3), 6 or 7.)
The new Direction also amends information about who now qualifies as an essential traveller, these changes affect the following classification of Essential Traveller and now read:
National and State security and governance
Any person who, in the conduct of their role in relation to the protection of Australia or South Australia from threats such as terrorism, war, espionage, or acts of foreign interference is required to be physically present in South Australia for that purpose.
Skills critical to maintaining key businesses or industry
Specialists required for industry or business continuity and maintenance of competitive operations where the appropriate skills are not available in South Australia, where the service is time critical and where the provision of the service requires that the person be physically present in South Australia.
Persons who, in the conduct of their duties, are responsible for maintenance or repair of infrastructure critical to South Australia and are required to be physically present in South Australia for such purposes.
Persons who ordinarily live or work in South Australia and travel for work purposes for regular periods according to established work schedules.
Note that ‘Persons who are employed or engaged in agricultural or primary industry activities’ are no longer included in this paragraph. Therefore, people wishing to enter South Australia for this employment purpose will now be required to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days prior to taking up employment.
Changes have also been made that affect persons entering remote communities subject to ‘The Biosecurity (Human Biosecurity Emergency)(Human Coronavirus with Pandemic Potential)(Emergency Requirements for Remote Communities) Determination 2020’. It is now possible, subject to having quarantined in another State or Territory, and being able to evidence this, that access directly back to the designated area in South Australia is permitted without the need to further self-quarantine. This process is managed by SA Health and South Australia Police.
Members of the public can find a copy of all existing directions, frequently asked questions and other information here.
If you require further information you can call the SA COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787 between the hours of 8.00am to 8.00pm 7 days per week or go to the SA Health website at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au or www.sa.gov.au/covid-19
