The legal challenge isn't over yet
The Federal Court has sided with the government in denying entry to Australian citizens and permanent residents who are returning to the country if they have travelled to India in the past fortnight. The decision rejects the first legal challenge to the travel ban which runs until Friday.
Justice Tom Thawley upheld the Biosecurity Act, which was used as grounds for Health Minister Greg Hunt to declare the ban on travellers coming from India, or from any country if they had passed through India. “Flights through transit hubs continue to provide an avenue for individuals who have recently been in India to enter Australia,” the justice said.
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The travel restriction was deemed reasonable since it enabled the government to “prevent or control” the spread of diseases such as COVID-19. “The most obvious method of achieving either result is to prevent entry or departure from Australia,” Justice Thawley said in dismissing the first two parts of a four-pronged legal challenge.
The Biosecurity Act was “intended to impinge on common law rights,” the justice explained. The decision responds to the claims of a 73-year-old Melbourne man who challenged the travel ban before the court. The man is believed to be stranded in Bangalore but wishes to return to Australia. The ban, however, makes it illegal for citizens or residents to be repatriated. From the vantage point of HR leaders, such measures may also have ripple effects on business travel and personnel mobility for multinational companies that manage teams in India.
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This is the first time the Biosecurity Act has been cited as a reason to restrict the movement of Australians re-entering the country. However, despite the dismissal of the first part of the legal challenge, the ban will still likely be scrutinised for its constitutionality.
With restrictions set to be lifted on Friday, the Australian government will start to bring home 150 of the 9,000 Australians in India who hope to leave the COVID-stricken subcontinent. It will send six chartered flights to India until the end of May. However, officials are yet to announce when commercial flights will reopen.
