Australian Borderforce updated the critical skills list on the basis of which a travel exemption may be granted into Australia.
The Commissioner of the Australian Border Force may grant an individual exemption if an applicant is a non-citizen:
- travelling at the invitation of the Australian Government or a state or territory government authority for the purpose of assisting in the COVID-19 response
- providing critical or specialist medical services, including air ambulance, medical evacuations and delivering critical medical supplies
- with critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services (such as in medical technology, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering and mining, supply chain logistics, agricultural technology, food production, and the maritime industry)
- delivering services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery (such as financial technology, large scale manufacturing, film and television production and emerging technology), where no Australian worker is available
- whose entry would otherwise be in Australia's national interest, supported by the Australian Government or a state or territory government authority.
An individual can submit a request for a travel exemption under this category or a business can submit a request on their behalf. The applications of multiple travellers within the same group/business can be linked, so that the requests are considered together.
At present travel exemptions are taking 24 to 48 hours to finalise, however this processing time varies depending on the circumstances of each case.