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When Jo Elliott heard Queensland was going to shut its borders, she rang her 82-year-old father, Joel Elliott, in Cairns in a panic.
Key points:
- Matt Smith tried to visit his son in Queensland but was stopped at the border on his first attempt
- Mr Smith had applied for compassionate travel online but was later told he didn't have all the documentation
- The family warns the process for getting permission for compassionate travel is like a 'lucky dip'
She was concerned about his ability to look after himself, as he does not use the internet or have a large support network.
"If Dad got ill, if he got the virus, I was worried that I might not be able to get to him," Sydney-based Ms Elliott told 7.30.
"I rang him the night before the borders were going to close and I said, 'Dad do you want me up here?' And he said yes."
Ms Elliott and her 5-year-old son, Taliesin, flew to Cairns, where they have been juggling remote schooling and working online, now the borders are shut.
Frustrating day at the airport
Back in Sydney, Talie's father Matt Smith was missing his son.
He tried to fly to Cairns last week to visit, but ended up having what the family say was a long, frustrating day at the airport.
He checked in at Sydney airport and was told he would need to fill in an online entry pass to travel to Queensland, which he did, ticking the compassionate grounds option.
"I filled out the details and within 30 seconds I had the confirmation back that I had the entry permit," Mr Smith told 7.30.
He made it as far as Brisbane, but was unable to travel any further without supporting documents to prove his travel was for compassionate reasons.
He said he was not told before getting on the plane that he needed supporting documents.
The family spent the day on the phone to different authorities, including Queensland Health and the Australian Federal Police, trying to prove Mr Smith's reason for travel.
In the end he was told to return home on a plane to Sydney.
"It was five weeks since I'd seen him.
"To turn around and have to come back to Sydney, I wasn't happy. I was frustrated."
Second time lucky
Mr Smith made it through to Cairns two days later, travelling with extra documents to prove his reason for travel.
Ms Elliott said the process for claiming a compassionate exemption should be made clearer.
"I think it's really important so we all can know, if we've got loved ones up in Queensland and we need to get to them in a hurry we can, [and] we're not in this situation — that it's a lucky dip that you've got the evidence or not," she said.
Queensland State Disaster Co-ordinator and Police Deputy Commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, is overseeing the operation on the border with New South Wales.
He said they are keeping the online application for border passes "pretty simple".
"We don't advise [people] that they must produce documentation at that stage, but the Queensland Government website is pretty clear that you need to be able to validate the reason you are coming through," Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski told 7.30.
He admitted that these were "challenging times" but said frontline police were having to "make a judgement call on what they're presented with".
'Double check' the documentation needed
Mr Smith had a message for other people considering traveling on compassionate grounds — be prepared to prove your case.
That includes documentation like letters from a school, birth certificates or a letter from an employer.
"Don't think you can just fill out that form online and get through — you need extra," he said.
