Important information for a safe arrival to ANU

Message to students commencing on campus from Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong or Shellharbour.

Dear students

We're looking forward to welcoming you to ANU for Semester 2. COVID-19 continues to impact us here and our students overseas, and following the health advice from your local government helps us to keep our community safe. While we have experienced another series of restrictions and lockdowns that have impacted many of you, we are excited to be welcoming you to our community and want to give you the best start to your University career with us.

The purpose of this email is to help you prepare and understand the requirements for a safe start to university life later this month. You are receiving this email because the address you have registered with the University has a Greater Sydney post code.

We know many of you will be busily preparing to arrive on campus and be looking forward to the O-Week celebrations planned for the week of 19 July. Outlined below are the ACT's health and safety requirements for people in lockdown areas. As it stands, the NSW Government's restrictions are due to be lifted in time for NSW-based students to participate fully in O-Week celebrations. However, we strongly urge you all to plan for an extension of restrictions, to be safe.

For those of you who have not been to exposure sites or are not travelling from lockdown areas, your first day on campus should be relatively straightforward. The ACT has restrictions in place for those who have been in exposure locations, and public health advice that you will need to be aware of when you return to campus - check the ACT Health 'Entering the ACT' website regularly before, during and after your travel.

NSW-based students

The extension of the Greater Sydney lockdown until 11.59pm on Friday 16 July 2021 means anyone entering the ACT from Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong or Shellharbour will be subject to a number of requirements as outlined on the ACT Health NSW Page. This includes:

• notifying of travel via completion of the online exemption form within 24 hours prior to arriving in the ACT;
• traveling directly to your residence and stay at home until 11.59pm on Friday 16 July 2021 or until advised by ACT Health;
• only leaving your residence for an essential purpose during the stay-at-home period.

For planning purposes, the length of time you will be under stay-at-home orders will depend on what happens with the Sydney lockdown, but will be no more than 14 days. This means that should you come to campus next week you will be able to move freely about from the first week of Semester 2 at the latest.

If you are unable to return to the ACT in time for the start of Semester 2, options to undertake courses online will be available until you are able to return to face-to-face teaching.

Sydney-based students in on-campus accommodation

If you plan to live in residential accommodation on campus, we thank you for your patience over the past two weeks and for remaining in Sydney as per instructions.

We are making active plans for your arrival, with the intention of making Davey Lodge available from Monday 12 July for those of you under stay-at-home or Quarantine orders, who cannot fulfill this requirement in your place of residence where you have an Occupancy Agreement.

To assist with our planning, please inform us immediately when you intend to arrive in the ACT. You will receive a request via your ANU email address from your Head of Residence to seek information from you that will enable us to plan your accommodation if you are required to complete a Stay at Home Order. If you have not received this email, please send an email to uni.accom@anu.edu.au to ensure that we can arrange for your stay in Davey Lodge, if required.

Following receipt of your email, your residence team will contact you about staying in Davey Lodge and provide detailed check-in procedures and what to bring advice.

Students who complete a stay-at-home order at Davey Lodge will continue to pay their accommodation tariff as per their current occupancy agreement. There will be no additional charge for staying at Davey Lodge.

COVID-safe plans on campus in Semester 2

The risk of COVID-19 spreading in the ACT is currently very low, and it has been 363 days since our last local case. The ANU COVID-safe Campus Alert System remains at BLUE/LOW RISK. However, there is currently an ACT Government mandate to wear masks in public spaces until 11.59pm 9 July 2021. Our current level is 'BLUE plus masks', but this is likely to change BLUE before Semester 2 starts.

Apart from any mask-wearing requirements, our COVID-safe plans remain unchanged - including our intention to move to 100 per cent capacity in classrooms, wherever possible.

Good luck with your preparations for a safe start at ANU and take care. I am excited to welcome you to our community.

Kind regards

Ian

Professor Ian Anderson
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student and University Experience)
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