HOW OUR AUSSIE VAX PASSPORT WILL WORK
DAVID MILLS
AMID reports the ban on Aussies flying overseas could be dropped as early as November, and Qantas announcing plans to resume flying in December, vaccination passports are emerging as a reality. Here’s what you should know.
WHEN WILL THEY BE READY?
Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said Australia would have a vaccination passport system “up and ready” in weeks, ready for deployment when the country hits the 80 per cent vaccination milestone.
All states are projected to reach 80 per cent vaccination by December, and some (NSW, ACT and Tasmania) sooner. Western Australia has indicated that it may keep its border closed for longer.
WHAT WILL PASSPORTS ALLOW YOU TO DO?
The Digital Passenger
Declaration will allow you to depart Australia, and also to quarantine at home rather than in a hotel upon your return.
Mr Tehan said the vaccination passports would allow Australians to travel freely through certain other countries.
“We’ve been working with the International Civil Aviation Organisation to make sure that it will work with other countries,” he said.
HOW WILL THE PASSPORT WORK?
An app will be available with a QR code that can be scanned at Australian and international airports, providing your vaccination information, which can be captured up to 72 hours prior to boarding. This information will also be linked to the chip in your Australian passport.
The Digital Passenger Declaration will replace the incoming passenger cards, well known to generations of Aussie flyers, as well as the travel declaration online form that has been in place since 2020.
SO WILL IT BE JUST ONE APP NEEDED TO FLY?
No. It addition to the Digital Passenger Declaration, most international airlines are likely to have their own apps which customers will need to download before they let you check in.
Qantas, Air New Zealand, Emirates, Etihad, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Malaysia Airlines (among others) will be using the International Air Travel Association Travel Pass app for passengers. That app will allow passengers to store their vaccination certificates as well as test results on their phone.
Qantas has said it is looking at integrating the Travel Pass app into its own app, which allows people to book flights, check in and download boarding passes. Some airlines look to be backing a different app called the Common Pass. This means downloading multiple apps may just be a fact of international travel for years to come.
WHAT ABOUT DOMESTIC TRAVEL?
Although your Australian passport will not be needed for travel across state borders, Mr Tehan said the vaccination passport was being designed so it could be used for domestic travel. “We also want to put in place a system which will enable Australians … to freely travel within Australia and do so in a very safe manner,” the minister said.
The home quarantine trial currently running in South Australia is an indication of the sort of app that the federal government’s Digital Passenger Declaration will need to integrate with.