Victorians stuck in regional NSW had to wait a little bit longer to be granted permission to come home, as the launch of a new permit system was delayed, AAP reports.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Victorian government expanded its "traffic light" scheme to the whole of Australia on Monday, designating regions as green, orange or red zones based on their coronavirus risk profile.
Regional NSW has been classified orange, while Greater Sydney and Greater Brisbane remain red.
Despite the border changes coming into effect at 6pm, the permit system wasn't available on the Services Victoria website until about 8.55pm.
"Service Vic and DHHS are very sorry for the delay and any inconvenience," the health department tweeted after the page went live.
Other news
Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton also took to social media to deny reports the nearly three-hour delay stemmed from the new public health directions not being signed on time.
Service Vic said in a statement that its staff and DHHS worked as quickly as possible to get the permit system up and running as they worked to draft directions but "experienced some technical issues".
Apart from Victorian-NSW border community residents, anyone arriving into Victoria from 6pm without a permit faced a $4957 fine.
The new system allows Victorians left stranded in regional NSW to return, but the state still remains off-limits for those in Greater Sydney and Greater Brisbane.
Travellers from regional NSW in hotel quarantine are now also permitted to leave quarantine if they have tested negative.
More than 4000 exemption applications have been lodged by Victorians after the sudden border closure to NSW on New Year's Day.
Those still in the area who haven't been in a red zone over the last 14 days will now only need a permit, and must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result if granted one.
Premier Daniel Andrews says the permit system will remain in place for as long as the state of emergency lasts, with Victorians embarking on interstate travel told to be aware their plans could change.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien described the permit requirement for returning from green zone areas as a "massive overreach".
It comes as Victoria marked its fifth consecutive day with no new local or interstate cases, although a returned traveller in hotel quarantine tested positive.
A Victorian child who tested positive after travelling overseas wasn't included in Monday's tally, having returned the result after arriving in Israel on January 9.
The child attended Armadale's Explorers Early Learning Centre on January 7, but Professor Brett Sutton suspects the case is a false positive.
Australian Associated Press