Sydney's COVID-19 restrictions: Can I go boating in NSW?

LAST UPDATED OCTOBER 11

Boaters in NSW will become divided as the state sets a clear division between the COVID-19 vaccine haves and the unvaccinated have-nots.

As of today, the answer is yes, people from different households who are fully vaccinated can jump in a car towing a trailer boat and go off and spend a day out on the water. But how many people are on the boat will be down to people's individual vaccination status.

If you want to go boating with people other than those who live under the same roof as you, everyone will need to be fully vaccinated.

Under the new statewide guidelines, everyone on that boat will have to carry identification showing their name and where they live, and some sort of proof that they have had a full COVID-19 vaccination.

NSW Police officers can ask anyone to provide these details at any time. Anyone aged under 16 will not be required to be fully vaccinated or show proof of who they are and where they live.

To show their vaccination status, a boater will need to carry vaccination evidence that can be either an online immunisation history statement, a COVID-19 digital certificate from the Australian Immunisation Register, or a medical exemption.

Given the confusion around how boaters will need to prove their vaccination status, the  NSW Government said it was working on adding vaccination evidence to the Service NSW app.

Residents of the greater Sydney area are still banned from travelling into regional NSW without a valid reason, including for day trips.

Likewise, anyone who lives outside the greater Sydney region cannot travel into Sydney.

Anyone who is fully vaccinated can take a holiday outside the local government area in which they live, but within the regional or greater Sydney area in which they reside.

For boaters in greater Sydney, that means you can go as far north as Lake Macquarie, and as far south as Shellharbour.

For regional NSW boaters, border restrictions still stop anyone NSW from crossing into Victoria or Queensland even if they come in via the water.

Fully vaccinated regional NSW residents can go boating on the Murray River. The cross-border bubble means that anyone who lives along the Murray River can cross into Victoria to launch or retrieve a boat as long as you haven’t left the cross-border area or you haven’t been in a declared red or extreme risk (orange) zone elsewhere any time in the previous 14 days.

If you cross the Murray River into Victoria, you need to follow the current COVID-19 directions currently in the state, including restrictions for areas currently in lockdown.