Mandatory quarantine and isolation requirements were critical public health measures that were implemented to reduce the spread of coronavirus to the Australian community.
In July 2020, the government announced that people who arrived from overseas to Victoria and stayed in quarantine accommodation would be required to pay a quarantine contribution fee (the fee).
The fee contributes to costs for quarantine, such as:
- airport arrival processing and transport, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and testing
- accommodation, meals, amenities and related site services
- health and wellbeing services.
Laws regarding quarantine fees in Victoria
The requirements for payment of the quarantine contribution fee and provisions are set out under Part 14 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic) and Public Health and Wellbeing (Quarantine Fees) Regulations 2020.
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV), a former administrative office of the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) was responsible for administration of quarantine contribution fee provisions.
On 31 March 2023, the responsibility was transferred to DJCS.
What fees apply?
Fees for 14 or more days of quarantine
Overseas travellers that were in quarantine accommodation from 7 December 2020 for 14 days or more need to pay:
- $3000 for one adult
- $1000 for each additional adult in the same room or apartment
- $500 for each child aged between 3 and 17 years.
No fee is charged for children aged under 3 years.
Fees for less than 14 days of quarantine
Overseas travellers that were in a quarantine facility for less than 14 days will be charged a daily pro-rata fee based on the maximum fee of $3000.
Fee calculation examples:
- A group or family of 3 adults sharing a room or apartment for 14 or more days will be charged a fee of $5000.
- A group or family of 2 adults and 3 children between age 3 and 17 years sharing a room or apartment for 14 or more days will be charged a fee of $5500.
- A single adult who was in quarantine for 3 days will be charged a fee of $642.86.
- A group or family of one adult and one child aged under 3 years sharing a room or apartment for 7 days will be charged a fee of $1500.
Breakdowns of fees are provided in your invoice.
Invoicing information
Invoices were issued to the preferred contact details provided by the nominated contact for the fee prior to departure from quarantine, including SMS and email notifications and post.
Invoices are available to view and download at any time by logging in to the Quarantine Contribution Fee Customer Portal.
If you have not received your unique Portal user name, please contact enquiries@cqvpayments.coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
Who must pay the fee?
Persons that were quarantined are liable to pay the fee to the state. If persons shared accommodation, all persons are jointly and individually liable to pay the total fee amount.
Parents or guardians of children that were under 17 years-old at the time of quarantine are liable to pay their children's’ fees.
Any persons that were already in Australia that voluntarily entered quarantine for caretaking purposes were not charged a fee.
Transferring fees to third parties
If you have received written confirmation that another person or organisation will pay your fee, the department may transfer the fee to that person or organisation.
In order to transfer your fees, you must provide the department with:
- the quarantine fee invoice reference number
- written confirmation from the third party of the total amount it will pay
- names, email address and physical address of the third party to enable verification by the department.
The information must be emailed to invoicing@cqvpayments.coronavirus.vic.gov.au within 30 days of your invoice due date.
Paying your fee
The amount you need to pay is listed on your invoice.
Payments can be made using:
- our secure Quarantine Contribution Fee Customer Portal
- BPAY (Australia/NZ only)
- direct deposit
- Electronic Funds Transfer.
Payment details are provided in your fee invoice.
Payment plans
A payment plan gives you more time to pay your fee.
Australian citizens and permanent residents
If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you can apply for a payment plan for any reason.
If you have already been approved for a payment plan, depending on your situation, we may not approve you for new payment plan. For example, if you have a history of missing or not making payments on your account, you might not be approved for a new payment plan.
Non-Australian citizens and non-permanent residents
If you are not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you can apply for a payment plan if you are experiencing financial or other hardship.
Your application must include:
- a summary of the financial or other hardship you are experiencing.
- evidence of your hardship.
Evidence can be:
- recent income statements, bank statements, debt notices or statements of expenses
- records of government concessions or other welfare support payments
- assessments of your health by medical or other health professionals.
How to apply for a payment plan
You can apply for a payment plan through the online Quarantine Contribution Fee Customer Portal.
Fee reductions and fee waivers
Who can apply for a fee reduction or fee waiver
If your invoice is not overdue, or if you have a sudden change of circumstances, you may be eligible to submit an application to reduce or waive your fee.
Waiver eligibility
Persons that are eligible for waiver are those that can demonstrate they:
- purchased their plane ticket leading to their quarantine in Victoria before 10 July 2020 (when quarantine fees were announced by Australian states and territories)
- are experiencing financial hardship and have limited means to pay, including relying on government support services as their sole or main source of income
- are a vulnerable person (or, if applicable, primary carer of vulnerable person) including:
- a person with serious illness/disability who is unable to care for themselves
- a family violence survivor
- someone applying as a refugee based on humanitarian reasons under the Migration Act 1958
- a person unable to protect or care for themselves against harm or exploitation as a result of age, illness, trauma, disability or other reasons
- qualify on other compassionate grounds due to exceptional circumstances. This can include urgent and emergency reasons for your travel and subsequent quarantine in Victoria, including medical, caring for others, domestic violence, life events (such as attending family funerals).
Waivers will not be approved on the basis of dissatisfaction with the quality of services provided when in quarantine for pandemic management purposes.
For information on how to make a complaint, please see the section below.
How to apply for a fee reduction or fee waiver
- Register and sign in to the Quarantine Contribution Fee Customer Portal.
- Start an application by choosing 'Apply to reduce fees'.
Applications must be submitted in the Portal within 30 days of your invoice date.
Your application must include:
- the reason you are for applying for a fee reduction or fee waiver
- the necessary documents as evidence.
Evidence must be from official verifiable sources. For example, if you are applying due to financial hardship, evidence can include:
- official copies of financial statements (eg recent bank statements)
- copy of a current concession card issued under the State Concessions Act 2004 (Vic)
- Centrelink income support payment statements
- letters or emails from the government agencies, social service providers or medical professionals
- statutory declarations (find out how to make a statutory declaration).
We will review your application for a fee reduction or fee waiver based on:
- the documents and evidence you provide us
- your personal situation.
If required, we may ask you to provide more evidence when we are reviewing your application.
Late applications
Applications submitted after 30 days from your invoice date will only be considered under exceptional circumstances. For example, if there has been a significant change in your situation that now allows you make an application.
Financial assistance services
There are free tools and services available to help you manage your money and submit applications for waiver.
Financial counselling
A financial counsellor can help you apply for a fee reduction, fee waiver or payment plan.
To speak to a financial counsellor you can:
- find a free financial counsellor near you
- call the free National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007.
Free tools and information to help you manage your money
Visit the Australian Government Moneysmart website and National Debt Helpline website for tools to help you manage your money, including:
- budget planners
- financial calculators
- sample letters to help explain your hardship
- step-by-step money management guides.
How we communicate with you
Quarantine Contribution Fee Customer Portal
We will send invoices, messages and emails to you via the Quarantine Contribution Fee Customer Portal (the Portal).
Register and sign in to the Portal to:
- view your invoice
- make payments
- update your contact details
- send messages to us
- apply for fee reductions, waivers or payment plans.
Instructions on how to register for the Portal have been sent to the contact details you provided when you left quarantine.
If you have not received these instructions, please email enquires@cqvpayments.coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
Email and SMS text messages
We will send you emails or SMS text messages to let you know when there are new messages for you to view on the Quarantine Contribution Fee Customer Portal.
Unsafe and unwanted messages you may receive
All emails from us will come from an email address that ends with vic.gov.au.
All websites we ask you to visit will also end with vic.gov.au.
We do not ask other companies to contact you about your quarantine contribution fees.
We do not contact you directly to offer discounts on your fees.
Emails, letters and other messages are likely to be unsafe if:
- it is sent from an email address not ending with vic.gov.au
- it asks you to visit a website that does not end with vic.gov.au
- it offers you a discount on your fee
- is claiming to be from an organisation that is not the Victorian Government.
If you think you have received an unsafe message, do not respond or provide your personal and payment details. You should let us know by emailing enquiries@cqvpayments.coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
You can also report potential scams to the Australian Government by visiting the Scamwatch website.
How we manage your personal information
To administer the quarantine contribution fees, we are required to collect information about you.
For information on how we protect your information, please refer to the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) information privacy policy.
If you would like to know what information DJCS has collected about you, you can make a Freedom of Information request.
Complaints
You can find information about lodging a complaint on the DJCS website.
If you are dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, you may make a complaint to the Victorian Ombudsman.
Contact us
If you have any further questions about the quarantine contribution fee, you can contact us by sending an email to enquiries@cqvpayments.coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
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