On Monday next week, the border opens again to tourists for the first time in nearly two years.
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It is already open for Australians to return but on February 21, non-Australians who have been double-vaccinated will be able to enter without quarantine.
Visitors from a few countries (New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Japan) have been allowed in since the rules started being relaxed from mid-December but not tourists from most other countries, particularly from the big tourist markets like China, the US and Europe.
Some people have also been allowed in on visas to work but not just as visitors to enjoy the country for a short time.
But only the vaccinated
After the gates open, the unvaccinated will still have to get permission, and they would also have to quarantine - in effect, unvaccinated tourists will be excluded unless they fancy the whole trip in a quarantine hotel.
There is some debate about what full vaccination means. When the Prime Minister announced the change, he said the definition was that they would have to have the full dosage, so for most vaccines, that is two jabs.
The expert panel on vaccines, ATAGI, has indicated it will change the terminology from "fully vaccinated" to "up to date with vaccinations".
But, a booster won't be needed for entry, or not immediately anyway.
So what's happened to tourists?
Obviously, they stayed away. They had to. Numbers collapsed.
On January 1, 2020, for example, 1.65 million international passengers went through Sydney Airport. On April 1, it was a mere 41,370. Just over a million passengers went through Tullamarine in Melbourne on the first day of the year compared with 17,803 three months later.
Domestic air travel also collapsed but started to pick up again when the lockdowns were relaxed and vaccines came on the scene (towards the end of 2020 and then peaking again in the middle of 2021).
Overall, there were nearly 44 million journeys by air both within Australia and in and out of the country in pandemic 2020-21 compared with 163 million in pre-pandemic 2018-19.
Where will the tourists come from?
Before the block on travel, China and New Zealand were the biggest markets, according to the federal government's Tourism Research Australia unit.
In the pre-pandemic year, about 1.3 million tourists came from each, followed by the US (763,872), the UK (673,668) and Japan (445,358).
They helped the economy greatly. According to Tourism Research Australia, the contribution was $31 billion (6.6 per cent of Australia's exports).
Will their return bring COVID?
They may - but airlines insist on COVID testing shortly before boarding (usually within 72 hours). A positive result for a test means the passport holder is barred from the flight.
But COVID is still out there. In the US, only two thirds of the eligible population is fully vaccinated. The country is still recording hundreds of thousands of cases.
In the UK, there are still tens of thousands of new cases each day.
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It is unlikely that tourism will resume at its previous levels quickly. One of the risks for travellers is that they catch it on the holiday and then can't board the plane back.
Flights are currently not sky high in price - but the cost of being stuck on holiday might be.
By the way, cruises are still not allowed in.
What difference has the closed border made to migration?
Obviously, in the short term it stopped travel, including tourism.
But it may have had a longer term effect.
The pattern over decades has been that more people have moved to Australia for the long term than have moved out, but the pandemic changed that (presumably temporarily).
In 2020-21, there was a net emigration from every state and territory (more people left long term than came in long term).
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, many historical patterns of migration have changed," according to Jenny Dobak, the Director of Migration Statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
"Australia recorded a net loss of 88,800 people in 2020-21 from the national population due to the impact of COVID-19 on overseas migration," she said.
"Contrast this to 2018-19, prior to the pandemic, when the country recorded a net gain of 241,300 people."
Every state and territory has seen a net loss of people in the pandemic:
- Victoria: - 56,100
- Queensland: - 14,400
- WA: - 5,600
- NSW: - 5,500
- SA: - 3,300
- ACT: - 3,100
- Tasmania: - 440
- NT: - 380
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
