Domestic airlines will soon be required to collect and hand over names and contact details of interstate passengers, to assist state and territory health authorities with COVID-19 contact tracing efforts.
WATCH: States back Scott Morrison's plan to raise Australia's cap on international arrivals
Both of Australia's major carriers told SBS News they have already introduced additional requirements for customers to provide contact tracing information. A spokesperson for Virgin Australia said passengers were required to fill out a COVID Safe form before departure, and had been"proactively providing basic manifests to relevant state police" since July.World Health Organisation Advisor Professor Marylouise McLaws said the expansion of data collection on domestic flights was a “logical step” in the fight to contain the virus, especially as calls grow for state borders to be re-opened.
“There should be a sort of review - how long should you keep this data? And can you use it for other things,” he said.Mr Morrison also announced National Cabinet had agreed to connect the digital contact tracing systems across all state and territories. “We would be able to swarm, harness the tracing capabilities of more states and territories, to plug in to the tracing work that is being done in that particular jurisdiction,” Mr Morrison said.
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