A 38-year-old man from Victoria was fined and escorted from Fyshwick to the NSW border by ACT Policing on Saturday night, having been caught breaching the ACT’s COVID-19 directions.
The Laverton man crossed the Victoria-NSW border with a permit on the evening of Friday, 24 July.
The conditions of this permit required the man to self-isolate at a residence in Sydney for 14 days.
On Saturday, 25 July, NSW Police Force were unable to locate or contact the man in order to conduct a compliance check, and suspected he was not complying with the direction for Victorian residents to self-isolate.
Further police enquiries established he had travelled to the ACT.
At about 7.30pm that evening ACT Policing located the Victoria man in Fyshwick, who did not have an exemption to enter the ACT – thus breaching local COVID-19 health directions.
He was instructed to comply with the Public Health Direction that he self-isolate in NSW for 14 days, and subsequently provided with an escort out of the ACT to complete his self-isolation period in NSW, per the requirements of his NSW border crossing permit.
He was subsequently issued with a $1,000 Criminal Infringement Notice.
Detective Superintendent Jason Kennedy, Commander of the ACT Policing COVID-19 Taskforce, said police would take decisive action against people who ignore the ACT’s COVID-19 directions.
“The flouting of the ACT’s Public Health directions, particularly by people travelling into the Territory from known COVID-19 hot-spots, simply will not be tolerated by police,” Detective Superintendent Kennedy said.
“Our priority remains keeping the Canberra community safe, particularly those who may be at a higher risk of health complications.
“ACT Policing will continue to take a proactive approach to limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the Territory, and will work with neighbouring law enforcement agencies to ensure those travelling across state and territory borders are doing so lawfully.”
