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Whether you're religiously practising or just religiously dedicated to food, this time of year is usually chock-a-block with family gatherings and catch-ups with friends.
But things are different in 2020, and coronavirus-related restrictions mean we can't carry on with our usual Easter/Passover/chocolate-eating celebrations.
At a national level, all non-essential travel is being discouraged.
But the rules vary state to state, so let's take a look at exactly how far you're allowed to travel and who you're allowed to visit.
New South Wales
The advice is to stay home. But the Government has listed several reasons which would "excuse" someone for being outside.
Eating chocolate isn't one of them, so you are not allowed to visit your family for social reasons.
But you can visit family members if you need to provide medical care or if they are vulnerable to the virus and therefore unable to collect their own groceries and other essentials.
You can visit a partner who doesn't live with you, but that gets trickier if you have to cross state borders.
Queensland, WA, SA, NT and Tasmania have effectively closed off their borders, with some exemptions, but in most cases there's a mandatory quarantine period of two weeks.
Children can still visit parents or siblings who don't live with them in the same household in accordance with their existing arrangements.
So if you take care of the kids full time, but they usually visit their other parent over Easter, it's still OK to take them over there.
Victoria
Visits to or from family and friends of any size should be avoided unless it's to care for someone who is sick, elderly, disabled, pregnant, or who has mental health concerns.
Partners are an exception; if you live apart, you can visit each other at home.
There are also "care or compassionate reasons" it's OK to leave your home that could mean you're allowed to see some family members.
If you have shared parenting obligations (whether court-ordered or informal) you can still transport children between homes or visit your kids where they live (provided its's within the state).
And you can provide child care for someone who needs to leave the house for one of the permitted reasons or is working or studying from home.
You can visit a family member at an aged care home, disability or other residential care facility, or in hospital, but they can only receive two visitors at a time and there's a maximum of one visit per day.
You can't visit any of these places if you've got COVID-19 or any of the symptoms, or have had known contact with someone who has. (And you really shouldn't be visiting anyone, even if they're healthy and at home, if you have any flu-like symptoms.)
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Queensland
The rules are a bit more lenient if you're in Queensland, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announcing last week that two people can come and visit you at home.
Anyone who lives outside your household is counted in those two people, so even if it's an immediate family member, if you don't live with them, they still count towards the two visitors.
The ban on more than two people gathering in public still stands, so if you and your partner want to see your parents, make sure it's at home.
The same rules about partners and families split across two households apply.
But Queensland's border restrictions mean most people attempting to drive across state lines will need a new special permit to get into the state. (Existing passes became void at midnight on Friday.)
If you're crossing the border as part of your shared parenting arrangement, you should be exempt.
If not, a separate application is required for each person, including children, and all travellers in your party must be eligible for an exemption.
There are different passes for people arriving by air or sea.
Anyone who has visited a virus hotspot like Sydney will need to quarantine for 14 days upon returning home.
ACT
Canberrans have been urged to stay home this weekend, and especially to avoid leaving the Territory borders.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said those with ACT number plates seen travelling in NSW were "highly likely to be stopped" and could face fines.
As in Queensland, Canberrans can welcome two (local) visitors to their homes, as long as everyone complies with social distancing rules.
That means air hugs, distance fives, and thorough hand-washing before passing any Easter eggs to your guests.
Your questions on coronavirus answered:
Tasmania
You can't see your family for a social visit, but Tasmanians are allowed to leave home for compassionate needs or social support.
That means you can visit a partner, relative, close friend, child, neighbour or elderly person to help them deal with the following:
- serious illness
- a death
- mental health or distress
- relationship breakdown
- family violence
- poor social support (for people living alone)
- chronic illness
- homelessness
- shared parenting arrangements
You can also visit someone without access to technology or someone without strong social support networks on the same grounds. Remember to practise social distancing while you're there.
Tasmanians have been strongly advised that this is not the time to visit their shacks unless they need to carry out urgent repairs. So if you're doing any of those social support visits, make sure they're at the person's usual place of residence.
If you're in the north-west, you're effectively in lockdown.
Western Australia
Western Australia is the only state to have introduced intrastate border restrictions. They effectively divide the state into nine separate territories, and anyone who crosses those boundaries without good reason faces a whopping $50,000 fine.
But there are some family-related reasons you'd be allowed to cross into another region:
- Caring for children or dropping them off as part of a parenting arrangement
- Travelling to help provide education to your children
- Caring for a sick family member, child, aged or disabled person or anyone else for whom you have primary care responsibilities
Police also have discretion to allow someone to travel on compassionate grounds, which include the death or life-threatening illness or injury of a spouse, de facto partner, child, grandchild, sibling, parent or grandparent.
Partners are able to visit each other if they live within the same region.
There are also strict state border controls in place, so if you're travelling from another state, you'll need an exemption.
South Australia
The rules in South Australia are a little less strict, but people are still being advised to stay home except for essential travel.
The two-person rule is not being enforced in South Australia, but gatherings of more than 10 people are strictly prohibited, and all gatherings must be in a venue big enough to allow four square metres per person.
You can still visit people in aged care homes but residents can only receive one visit per day, and there's a maximum of two people per visit. So you can't bring the whole family to spend Easter with Nonna.
Any travellers from interstate must self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. People who live in border communities will still be allowed into South Australia.
What the experts are saying about coronavirus:
Northern Territory
Those in the NT have been told not to gather in groups of more than two people, except with immediate family, if they need to travel outside the home.
If your family members live in a remote Indigenous community, you may not be able to visit. The Territory has limited access to its 76 remote Indigenous communities to emergency personnel and health workers, and the exceptions to that are limited.
There are also strict border restrictions in place in the NT, so anyone arriving in the Territory will have to self-isolate for 14 days.
People who live in border communities will still be allowed into South Australia, and vice versa.
What you need to know about coronavirus:
Topics: infectious-diseases-other, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, respiratory-diseases, covid-19, australia, act, nsw, nt, qld, sa, tas, vic, wa
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