Chief Medical Officer suggests international travel ban will remain for much of 2021

Australia's Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly has advised that international borders will be "one of the last things" to reopen even if a COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out nationwide this year.

Explaining that while countries globally struggled to suppress the Coronavirus, international arrivals would continue to be the source of potential new cases, Professor Kelly “(as) the first vaccinations rollout in a few weeks time, Australia is not going to change everything back to normal.

"We are in such an envious position at the moment compared with the rest of the world.

"Unfortunately, I think international border changes are probably going to be one of the last things to change, rather than the first."

The Chief Medical Officer's remarks followed those of his predecessor, Professor Brendan Murphy, made similar comments on Tuesday.

Almost 12 months after travel restrictions first started being imposed, Professor Murphy, the Secretary of the Federal Department of Health, said he could not see them lifting any time soon.

He told ABC News Breakfast on Monday, "I think we'll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions

"Even if we have a lot of the population vaccinated, we don't know whether that will prevent transmission of the virus, and it's likely that quarantine will continue for some time."

Noting that decisions on international borders would continue to be made based on expert medical advice, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison noted "we will see how things play out over the course of the year.”

Professor Kelly also said the AHPPC - the group of state and territory Chief Health Officers - had been asked by National Cabinet to do "detailed country risk assessments" to see if Australia could establish any more quarantine-free arrangements with other nations.

He said the ‘green zone’ system in place with New Zealand had proven highly successful and was a good model to work on.

Professor Kelly also said he would "welcome" New Zealand authorities considering allowing Australians to travel quarantine-free as well.

Responding to the likelihood of ongoing international border closures Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) Chief Executive, Margy Osmond says while international borders remain closed there is "no hope of recovery”, advising that the tourism industry says it cannot survive on the domestic market alone, especially if state borders keep closing.