A lack of coordination on borders has had serious consequences for Australians. In this open letter, written between the ARA other leading advocacy bodies, the Government is being implored to take action.

The ARA, in collaboration with other leading advocacy bodies, has today urged National Cabinet to agree to a national framework that clearly sets out the thresholds of when internal border controls can be implemented and how they would apply. Read the open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, State and Territory Premiers and Chief Ministers here.

An excerpt from the letter is below:

"We acknowledge we must put the health of Australians first.

Border closures have been an important part of Australia’s response to COVID-19 and it is imperative that the health of Australians underpins policy decisions.

The rapid and piecemeal implementation of complex and inconsistent domestic border restrictions in response to COVID-19 is impacting families, destroying jobs and crippling the Australian economy’s ability to recover from this pandemic.

In May, we welcomed the National Cabinet’s announcement of a nationally agreed three step COVID Safe plan – and commitment to “track progress against agreed precedent conditions, determine the pace of moving through the steps, and make any further decisions to move forward safely and with confidence’’.

Instead, what has emerged is a patchwork of inconsistent state and territory-based rules that ignore the reality of the way small and large businesses operate across borders and Australians live their lives."