Emma Weir and her family will tomorrow be among the first people to leave the country without an exemption for 20 months.

They are on the first flight from Darwin to London as the COVID-19 travel ban finally ends.

Free travel in, or out, of Australia has not been allowed since the borders closed on March 20, 2020 – almost 600 days ago.

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But from Monday all citizens and permanent residents can leave without exemption as long as they are fully vaccinated with a TGA-approved vaccine.

Aussies can travel anywhere, though the government's SmartTraveller site lists individual warnings for each nation.

Getting back, however depends on the destination within Australia, with all but NSW, Victoria and the ACT still requiring hotel quarantine and therefore having strict flight limits.

The Weir family are not going on holiday but reuniting with family.

Mrs Weir, husband Kieran and kids, Farran, nine, and Niven, seven, are desperate to see their relatives in the UK.

"For the kids seeing their grandparents for the first time in three-and-a-half years will be emotional," Mrs Weir said.

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Mrs Weir admitted she was "excited but also a bit terrified" about travelling again amid all the rules.

"Until we're in the air I don't feel like we can completely relax," she said.

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The family has been travelling around Australia since Mr Weir lost his job in video gaming earlier this year, and will return home to Sydney from the UK on December 31.

Because the family has permanent residency, they were banned from leaving just like citizens.

While exemptions could be applied for, a severe lack of seats on planes due to tight travel rules made it hard to get back, therefore a gamble to leave.

There are currently 46,800 Aussies registered with authorities as wanting to return.

The travel ban meant Mrs Weir missed her grandfather's funeral.

"I'm not sure that's something I'll ever recover from," she said.

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Now they're almost on their way to England her children have a special dream.

"My kids are praying for a white Christmas," she said.

First flights in and out of reopened states

The first flight into Sydney where passengers won't be ushered by police into hotel quarantine and charged up to $5000 for a family, will be QF12.

It lands from Los Angeles at 6am tomorrow with celebrations expected.

The flight will Qantas' first regular international passenger journey for almost two years, except for repatriation flights.

The airline will now be using Darwin instead of Perth as a transit hub, due to WA's harsh border closures.

Some airlines have continued to fly into Australia throughout the pandemic, but with just a handful of passengers allowed on board each plane coming in, cancellations have been likely and prices steep.

Other packed flights coming into to Sydney tomorrow include planes from Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Canada, Fiji and the UAE.

The first flight out of Sydney is at 9.05am on Singapore Airlines to Singapore.

Melbourne Airport will also be busy next week.

The airport said 13 airlines are due to bring in as many as 34,000 passengers – with five more carriers bringing up to 94,000 a week, by Christmas.

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Tomorrow will be a day of celebration for many Australians who are finally set to be reunited with loved one overseas and back home as the borders open.

But, for others, the heartbreak endures.

There are currently 46,800 Aussies registered with authorities as wanting to return home.

And while getting to NSW, Victoria or ACT will become a lot easier now borders are open and there's no quarantine for those vaccinated with a TGA-approved vaccine, for people from other states or those not considered jabbed, the outlook remains dismal.

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Paul Harris, 70, is trying to get from New Zealand to Perth with partner Kellie-Jane Pritchard.

Their September flight was cancelled and they have been unable to find another.

And Western Australia has not yet set a reopening plan, with premier Mark McGowan hinting it could be well into next year before caps allowing only 265 arrivals a week and $3000 hotel quarantine are gone.

Even if they fly to NSW or Victoria, they can't get across the border.

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The pair sold up in Wellington in September and have no home or car.

They're also desperate to get back to see his mother, who is 94.

"We are stranded in New Zealand, not knowing when flights to Australia may re-commence," Mr Harris told 9News.

"We are living here now thanks to the charity of our friends."

READ MORE: No way home for stranded Aussies with unrecognised vaccines

Free travel in, or out, of Australia has not been allowed since the borders closed on March 20, 2020 – almost 600 days ago.

Permission has been needed to leave, and strict flight caps have prevented more than a handful of people being allowed on each flight.

That in turn made flights scares, and very expensive.

Then there was the unprecedented ban on Aussies coming in from India.

Human rights experts have slammed Australia's travel bans, though they have helped the nation keep COVID-19 cases and deaths low compared with other nations.

Professor Tim Soutphommasane, political theorist at the University of Sydney, told 9News the travel ban was almost been unprecedented globally, and had proved "distressing" for thousands of Aussies.

"China, Hong Kong and New Zealand might be the only other places that have taken a similar approach," he said.

"It's a fundamental right of citizenship that you should be able to enter and exit your country.

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"It was unconscionable that we didn't permit fellow Australians to return home beyond a very small cap of arrivals.

"Some states are still clinging to a belief in zero COVID.

"But at some point everyone in Australia will need to accept that we can't eliminate the virus."

Tourists and other visa holders, such as students, remain banned from coming in unless they can get special permission.

This has resulted in worker shortages with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet keen to allow them back.

And workers living in Australia on temporary visas can't leave either as they would not allowed to return.

READ MORE: How to get your International COVID Vaccination Passport

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman, said: "We are doing everything we can to assist Australians who remain overseas to return.

"Since the start of the pandemic, DFAT has helped over 59,100 Australians return, including over 30,800 people on 200 government facilitated flights."

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Queensland's leaders have warned residents today is their last chance to get a jab to be fully vaccinated in time for the borders reopening.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has taken to social media to give people one final push as the state's reopening date nears closer.

"You have one day left to get your vaccine and be fully protected when our borders open just before Christmas," she said on Twitter.

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https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1454243570135695360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

No new local cases were recorded in Queensland once again today, but officials say that residents must not become complacent because an outbreak could occur at any time.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said if people want to travel during the holidays, they must get vaccinated this weekend.

READ MORE: When Queensland will open its borders

"We're just urging people to go and get vaccinated and that's the best way they can ensure they have access to all of the freedoms," he said.

"I mean, the one that we know about, the one that we can talk about now, is the ability to travel.

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"And if they aren't fully vaccinated by that date, they won't be able to travel. And if they want to be fully protected by that date, they pretty much need to get vaccinated this weekend. So time's running out."

That timeline authorities are referring to takes into consideration the wait between the first and second jab, on top of the two weeks required after before the greatest level of protection is reached.

READ MORE: Victoria will end live COVID-19 updates, as numbers drop to lowest in weeks

Yesterday, incoming Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Krispin Hajkowicz announced his shock resignation.

Mr Miles confirmed Dr Hajkowicz had turned down the role just days before beginning due to personal reasons, adding the timing of the announcement was not "ideal".

"It was unexpected … and he has asked that we respect his privacy," Mr Miles said.

He added that support positions had been added around the role until a more permanent replacement could be filled, including three new deputy Chief Health Officers.

Victoria recorded 1355 new local COVID-19 cases today, the lowest daily total in weeks – on the last live daily update from officials.

COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said that the state's numbers are dropped – as he said the daily 11am press conference was the last after months.

A total of 11 people died with the virus in the state, with Melbourne given new freedoms last night including shops reopening.

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He added that authorities will no longer hold daily COVID press conferences after today, but data will still be released daily and officials will front the media when necessary.

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1454214015400361988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"A huge thanks to the online audience for these events over many, many months", he said.

"We really appreciate your attention, your energy, your engagement with the conversations we've been having."

There are 747 people being treated with the virus in hospital, which is slightly below the seven day average. A total of 135 of those are in the intensive care unit.

Mr Weimar said there are 21,000 active COVID-19 cases across the state, and those hospitalised continue to be young and unvaccinated.

Two-thirds of the new cases are people aged under 40, and the other third are aged under 20.

He said 18 per cent of today's cases are children under 10.

"This continues to be cases predominantly in our unvaccinated communities and predominantly affecting younger Victorians," he said.

Cases rise in the regions as school tests rolled out

Mr Weimar said that cases are growing in Victoria's the state's regions.

"We are also seeing an upswing in the cases in regional Victoria. 280 cases today in regional Victoria locations," he said.

"Over 20 per cent of the cases reported (are) now in regional Victoria.

"A week ago that was around 14 per cent, a week before that it was under 10 per cent. So we are seeing this predicted increase of cases."

He said school children, especially in border towns, will be given rapid tests.

"We are also working closely with colleagues in NSW Health on a schools response and there will be significant number of rapid antigen tests made available over the weekend, in Albury and Wodonga to help track down and identify any areas of transmission we might have."

More testing options available

From Monday, self administered rapid antigen tests will available across Victoria and the rest of the nation, with supermarkets and even Amazon selling them.

Mr Weimar told people to buy some.

"Stick them in a drawer at home, if you feel symptomatic, you can use the test to provide you that extra bit of reassurance either you are OK or maybe you are not OK," Mr Weimar said.

Mr Weimar warned that if anybody gets a positive result they should go for a PCR test at a testing site, but the pair are both tools to be used in conjunction.

Shops reopen as restrictions eased

Melbourne residents are finally allowed to travel to regional areas, shop in non-essential retail stores and gather in larger groups, after further restrictions were eased at 6pm last night.

People lined up to pack into shops as the reopening time arrived, unable to wait any longer.

Although a freak wind storm lashed large parts of Melbourne and surrounds, conditions have since eased and attention has now been refocussed on the clean-up and enjoying another set of freedoms.

People from Regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne are also being reunited for the first weekend in months, as movement restrictions between the two was scrapped.

Gyms and entertainment venues have also reopened, though with capacity limits.

Public events will be able to restart for up to 5000 people who are fully vaccinated and masks must only now be worn indoors.

A total of 78.7 per cent of people in the state are fully vaccinated.

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Queen Elizabeth has been advised to rest for at least the next two weeks, accepting doctors' advice to cut back on her busy schedule, Buckingham Palace said Friday.

The 95-year-old monarch can continue to undertake light, desk-based duties during this time — including some virtual audiences. But she will be unable to travel to the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday, Nov. 13.

"However, it remains The Queen's firm intention to be present for the National Service of Remembrance on Remembrance Sunday, on 14th November,'' the palace said, noting a major event on the monarch's annual calendar.

The decision comes just days after Elizabeth cancelled her planned appearance at the UN climate conference in Glasgow — a move that dashed the hopes of Britain's Conservative government which is anxious to show the importance of the session to the fate of the planet.

The climate conference runs from October 31 to November 12 and her attendance was meant to kick it off in style and splendour.

The news came after the sovereign held virtual audiences Tuesday at Windsor Castle — the first since revelations that her doctors ordered her to rest last week.

The sovereign greeted the ambassadors from South Korea and Switzerland during her first technology-aided appearance since she was driven to London's King Edward VII's Hospital on October 20 for "preliminary investigations".

She returned to her Windsor Castle home at lunchtime the next day and has been taking on light duties since.

The Queen underwent the medical tests after she cancelled a scheduled trip to mark 100 years since the creation of Northern Ireland, and the palace said she had "reluctantly" accepted advice to rest for a few days. The matter was not related to COVID-19.

A man has died while scuba diving in Sydney's south today.

Emergency services were called to Kurnell National Park just before 12.15pm, after reports that a man was unresponsive after he was pulled from the water off the coast of Inscription Point.

Divers conducted CPR on the man until paramedics arrived however he died at the scene.

READ MORE: Man in 40s among three COVID-19 deaths in NSW

The man is yet to be formally identified.

NSW Ambulance Inspector David Matthews said it was "a very sad scene for everyone involved".

"Our thoughts are with the patient's friends and family," Mr Matthews said.

"The bystanders did an incredible job to get the patient to shore, and immediately start CPR. They were remarkable in devastating circumstances.

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"As we head into the summer months, it's important to understand the dangers of the ocean and waterways. It's imperative to have a safety plan in case something goes wrong."

Police and paramedics attended and the man's body was recovered with the assistance of Marine Area Command and PolAir.

A crime scene has been established and a report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.

Racegoers have donned their best outfits to attend Derby Day at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse, in what is the city's first big event since the latest COVID-19 lockdown ended.