Aug applications spike

THE number of Australians seeking an overseas travel exemption in Aug almost doubled the 19,502 people who applied for a concession in Dec 2020, new figures from the Department of Home Affairs have revealed.

Travellers presenting the Federal Government with a “compelling reason to leave the country for at least three months” have led the list of overseas travel exemptions granted for the month.

More than 10,000 Aussies boarded a plane for an overseas destination using the compelling reasons rationale, while travelling for critical industries and business was the next most common reason, accounting for 3,423 people for the month.

Close to 3,000 Australians left the country citing compassionate reasons, while the remaining reasons to travel only figured in the hundreds, such as urgent and unavoidable personal business (343), national interest (142), response to a COVID outbreak (85) and urgent medical treatment (79).

In total, the Federal Government approved 21,337 people to travel internationally, whereas just over half of that number were rejected (12,347).

In terms of inbound travel requests for Aug, the latest report showed that 6,593 people were granted entry to Australia and 11,927 had applications refused.

Most of the exemptions went to people with critical skills (3,337), followed by compassionate grounds (2,701), national and diplomatic interests (260), critical medical skills (241), and urgent medical treatment (54).

Since the start of the international border closure in Mar 2020, close to 211,000 Australians have been allowed to travel overseas, with 122,131 requests being refused.