Free movement between Australia's northernmost islands and coastal villages in Papua New Guinea has resumed after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.
The Torres Strait Treaty allows inhabitants of certain islands and 13 PNG villages to move across the international border using permits, instead of visas or passports, for traditional cultural activities.
That free movement, confined to a protected zone, was suspended in March 2020 and did not resume when Australia opened its borders to international travel in November last year.
The Torres Strait Island Regional Council and inhabitants of the PNG villages agreed to resume traditional travel as of October 19.
Getano Lui Jnr, deputy mayor of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council and co-chair of the bilateral traditional inhabitant's committee, said the arrangements would be reviewed after 30 days and again after 90 days.
"I have made it quite clear to our counterparts that the visits will not be the same as it was pre-COVID," Mr Lui said.
Spirit of the treaty
Mr Lui said people wanting to travel between the nations for reasons other than barter and trade would need to "go through the proper channels and get passports", while Torres Strait Islanders agreed to a request from the PNG inhabitants not to travel to Daru under the traditional permit system.
He said, "generational change on both sides" of the border had led to some travel under the treaty taking place for reasons that were not in the "spirit of the treaty" when it was signed in 1975.
"One example would be that traditional inhabitants on the PNG side would come across to the shop at one of our communities at Saibai, for instance, which, under the treaty, is not an arrangement that is in place," Mr Lui said.
"Whatever we do, we need to maintain the cultural integrity of our people on both sides and also to maintain the kinship we have with our neighbours."
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the government would work with authorities and traditional leaders in PNG and Torres Strait to monitor the situation closely.
Islands now Covid-free
There are currently no active cases of COVID-19 in the Torres Strait, and the islands have not recorded any deaths from the disease.
However, local health authorities do expect infection rates to fluctuate like other seasonal illnesses.
Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service executive director of medical services Marlow Coates said vaccination rates across the Torres Strait for those aged 12 and over were "in the high 80 per cent" range.
"We have a highly vaccinated group of communities who have the most interaction with Papua New Guinean nationals who are travelling across the border under the treaty provisions," Dr Coates said.
While the Torres Strait Treaty does not give PNG nationals unrestricted travel for health purposes, anyone who presents to an Australian health clinic is treated according to clinical need.
That includes potentially being flown to the hospital on Thursday Island or Cairns.
"That was normal business for us pre-pandemic and will continue to be normal business," Dr Coates said.
