During the two years, the NSW government issued bills for the hotel quarantine totaling $ 322.5 million. Of this, $ 263.9 million has been settled and in the last two and a half weeks alone $ 700,000 has been paid.
Revenue NSW has issued debt recovery orders, which impose additional costs and are the step before enforcement action, for 63,354 overdue bills, with a total outstanding balance of $ 52.6 million. In the meantime, $ 7.4 million is being repaid through active payment plans, which may begin before or after a debt recovery order is placed.
Many Australians and returning travelers believe that they should not have to pay because the quarantine was for the benefit of the public and some legal professionals support this view.
Professor Kim Rubenstein of the University of Canberra said there was a legal basis for the Australian government to require people entering the country to be quarantined, but it was less certain if they could charge citizens for the privilege.
“There could be a constitutional question as to whether it is a valid charge for Australians to re-enter the country, as they were forced into quarantine,” Rubenstein said.
Rubenstein said the High Court had previously found that Australian citizens had a right to return, but this did not necessarily apply to permanent and temporary residents and visitors.
Rubenstein said that if citizens fought court charges and won, states could be forced to reimburse people who have already paid. Revenue NSW has yet to take legal action for unpaid quarantine bills.
The Sun-Herald has spoken to several people who refuse to pay and plan to fight him in court if necessary.
Among them is Doug, who asked for his last name to be withheld, an American with an Australian wife and stepchildren. He divides his time between Utah, where he is a doctor, and his family in Queensland.
“I feel like a lot of human rights were violated with the draconian that was their policies and how they treated us,” Doug said.
“Fourteen days was too much. I tested negative, asymptomatic, in quarantine. People in Sydney who were on the street with everyone, when they tested positive, were able to go home and quarantine at home. I just don’t get it. “.
Travelers were quarantined in hotels for 14 days upon arrival in Australia during the pandemic. Credit: James Brickwood
As a partner of an Australian citizen with a spouse visa, Doug did not have to apply for an exemption to enter the country during the pandemic, but the quarantine requirement made him see much less of his family than usual. , and the separation lasted “a massive toll.”
Doug visited four times while the border was closed. The first quarantine period was in Brisbane and free, but he repeated the experience in Sydney three more times, accumulating $ 9,000 in debt.
Doug told The Sun-Herald that he only received his first bill recently and that he had a series of late commissions, even though he had never received a previous bill.
Kirstin Postlethwaite-Thomas, an Australian citizen living in Britain for 20 years, said she had not yet paid her bill after being quarantined in Sydney in May 2021. She had two previous flights canceled before July 2020 for free. quarantine and had provided evidence, but was still being prosecuted for payment.
As of May 17, Revenue NSW had waived 60,105 bills valued at $ 363.7 million after the customer provided proof that it booked before July 18, 2020.
Rebecca, who applied for a pseudonym, was working on a fixed-term contract in the United States when the pandemic began.
He said he would not pay his bill for hotel quarantine because embassies told Australians abroad about work and accommodation to stay, and he acted in accordance with that advice.
Sarah, who applied for a pseudonym, said she completed her quarantine in Sydney in December 2020, after being stranded in London without a job for several months.
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He was 25 years old and returned to Australia unscathed, and had to go to Centrelink, but his request for exemption for reasons of difficulty was rejected. He was offered a payment plan, but was paid in full when he finally got a job.
As of May 17, a total of only 35 debts valued at $ 118,100 had been revoked due to hardship or other exceptional circumstances.
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