If you were directed to isolate or quarantine in government-nominated accommodation, you would have had to pay a contribution to the overall cost of your accommodation.
Once you received your invoice you were required to make payment within 30 days of the date stated on the invoice.
Quarantine fee examples
Item
Rates from 1 July 2021
1 adult (1 room)
$3,220
2 adults (1 room)
$4,130
2 adults and 2 children (1 room)
(fee calculated on 2 adults and 2 children aged 3 years or older and under 13 years)
Payment plans and quarantine fee waivers are available in eligible circumstances. If you meet those circumstances, you may also apply to have the fee waived after you receive the invoice.
Costs and service inclusions
The costs are calculated as per the following table.
Description
Rates from 1 July 2021
Hotel room
$165 per room per night
Meals
$65 for a person 13 years or older per day
$32.50 for a minor/ child between 3–12 years of age per day
$0 for a child under 3 years
From 1 July 2021 a minor/child is defined as between 3-12 years of age for meal charges
An infant aged up to 3 years of age will not be charged
Meals are charged at a daily rate (inclusive of 3 meals) and are fixed. Meal costs will not be reduced or cancelled, including when a person requests the accommodation provider cease delivery of all meals.
The quarantine fees cover the following services:
personal laundry outside of the days daily provision of towels and linen
any requests for cleaning products so guests can maintain the room
wi-fi access.
Due to the nature of quarantine, there is no access to shared facilities (e.g. gym, pool) and rooms cannot be cleaned daily by hotel staff.
Invoice information
Your invoice will be sent to your nominated email or home address. Payment plans and quarantine fee waivers are available in eligible circumstances.
Incorrect invoices
Carefully read through the fee information above and your invoice details. Check that your personal details and amounts match your invoice.
If you are still concerned the amount charged is incorrect, call 13 QGOV (13 74 68) immediately.
If details are correct but you wish to dispute the invoice, review the eligibility requirements for a quarantine fee waiver.
Payment
Payment is required 30 days from the date the invoice is issued.
If you have submitted an application for a full or partial fee waiver, the payment terms of the invoice will be paused until an outcome is determined. Upon receiving an outcome, if there is an amount owing, payment is required within 14 days.
How to pay
Details of how to pay will appear on your invoice. Payment options include BPAY, BPOINT, Post billpay and direct deposit. Each payment option will generate a receipt. Use this receipt along with your invoice to support any claims.
If you are unable to complete your payment within 30 days from the invoice date, you may be eligible to apply for a payment plan. Payment plans must be requested within 30 days from the invoice date.
Overdue payments of quarantine fees may be referred to a debt collection agency. The debt collection agency will manage queries about the debt.
Payment plans
If you are unable to make full payment of the quarantine fee invoice by the due date, you can request to enter into a payment plan agreement to repay the invoice over a period of time via the Quarantine Fee Payment Plan portal.
If you require assistance in using the Quarantine Fee Payment Plan portal please contact us via email FBC-Receipting@health.qld.gov.au or by calling 13 QGOV (13 74 68).
If your request is approved, you will be issued a payment plan agreement for the quarantine fee invoice outlining the full terms and conditions.
COVID-19 fee waiver applications closed
Fee Waiver applications closed at 11:59pm on 31 August 2022. If you believe you meet the eligibility criteria and have extenuating circumstances that either prevented you from submitting your application prior to this deadline or prevented you from requesting a review of your outcome within 14 days of notification, please contact feewaiver@health.qld.gov.au.
To ensure there is enough information to consider your request, please provide a description of your exceptional circumstances for the delay and relevant supporting documentation for consideration.
If, after exhausting the above options, you remain unsatisfied with the outcome, you can contact the Queensland Ombudsman.
Eligibility
You may be eligible for a fee waiver under the grounds of financial hardship.
Each application under the grounds of financial hardship will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. However, the following scenarios are designed to provide guidance on mandatory evidence must be provided.
Queensland Health will advise, at time of assessment, if additional documentation is required. It is important to provide sufficient evidence to assist in processing your application accurately.
An application on the grounds of financial hardship will be assessed based on the following criteria:
Scenario
Criteria
Substantiating documents (documents you may need)
Unemployed
Received full-time Centrelink benefits through one of the following:
JobSeeker payment
Youth Allowance for Job Seekers
Disability Support Pension
Carers Payment (full-time)
Age Pension
Austudy
ABSTUDY
Evidence required:
Queensland Health invoice
Complete Centrelink documentation from one of the eligible services showing:
name
payment type
amount
payment frequency and dates (dates of payments must be between date of quarantine and date of fee waiver application to be eligible).
People who have limited savings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
The person must be:
an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and
have no more than $10,000 cash or savings (per adult identified on the quarantine fee waiver application)
Evidence required:
Queensland Health invoice
Australian birth certificate, citizenship certificate, passport or Visa Entitlement Verification Online, IMMICard documentation
All bank statements held in your name showing complete transactions for a 3-month period and closing balances totalling less than $10,000 (per adult identified on the quarantine fee waiver application)
If applicable, include:
Evidence to demonstrate loss of a business entity, home or possessions due to COVID 19
Evidence of receiving JobKeeper payment through the Australian Taxation Office or your employer
Additional evidence of excessive costs incurred by COVID-19 that will hinder your ability to pay your fee waiver (e.g. documentation of excessive costs to relocate back to Australia from overseas)
Letters from employers advising of changes to employment or reduced hours
Payslips
Statutory declaration
This financial hardship guide has been developed to assist you in your application – please note that this is a guide only and does not constitute a complete list of circumstances.
You may be able to request a fee waiver on grounds of vulnerability – this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Anyone who is considered a vulnerable person (or carer) may apply for a waiver on the grounds of vulnerability even if they do not meet the criteria for financial hardship. To be considered for assessment under vulnerability, you must be able to demonstrate how your vulnerability affects your ability to meet your financial obligations.
The following are examples of where vulnerability may be considered grounds for a quarantine fee waiver:
Scenario
Examples that may be considered
Substantiating documents (documents you may need)
Vulnerable person or primary carer for a vulnerable person
a person who identifies as a refugee and/or application based on humanitarian reasons
a person with serious illness/disability who is unable to care for themselves or necessitating immediate travel to Queensland
a person unable to protect themselves against harm or exploitation as a result of age, illness, trauma, disability or other reason
a person escaping from domestic, family or sexual violence
a person performing the role of primary carer for a person who may be considered as vulnerable
Evidence required:
Queensland Health Invoice
Statement of reasons
Include if applicable:
Visas including Protection Visas
Police reports
Birth certificate
Statutory declaration
Medical records/letter from doctor
Letter from registered Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) provider or court order (i.e., Domestic Violence Order)
Evidence of carer status
Centrelink documentation
Bank statements
Other relevant financial information
This vulnerability guide has been developed to assist you in your application – please note that this is a guide only and does not constitute a complete list of circumstances.
When applying for a travel fee waiver, the decision will be made on the following criteria:
Scenario
Criteria
Substantiating documents (documents you may need)
Travelers who had a confirmed international arrival date into Queensland before midnight on 17 June 2020, even if they arrive after 1 July 2020.
Travel was booked before midnight 17 June 2020
Actual arrival was after July 1
Flight delayed/diverted/cancelled resulting in arrival after July 1
Evidence required:
Copy of Queensland Health invoice
Original travel itinerary / eTicket which includes the date of issue
Notification of the travel being cancelled issued by the airline and/or travel company
Reissued travel itinerary / eTicket which includes the date of arrival into Brisbane
If applicable:
Other relevant information
Travelers who had an international flight diverted to Queensland whose original destination was another state
Travel was booked before original destination state introduced quarantine fees:
Victoria: travellers who purchased their flights before 11.59 pm 10 July 2020 AEST
NSW: travellers who purchased their flights before 11.59 pm 12 July 2020 AEST
South Australia: travellers who purchased their flights before 11.59 pm ACST on 13 July 2020
Actual arrival date was after state introduced requirements (as above)
Actual arrival was diverted/cancelled from original destination
Evidence required
Copy of Queensland Health invoice
Original travel itinerary/eTicket which includes the date of issue
Notification of the travel being cancelled or diverted issued by the airline and/or travel company
Reissued travel itinerary/eTicket which includes the date of arrival into Brisbane
If applicable:
Other relevant information
If you feel your circumstances should be considered but they do not fall within the above grounds and criteria due consideration will be given to the application.
When applying on these grounds, the following is considered mandatory evidence:
copy of Queensland Health invoice
statement of reasons.
Please provide any other relevant evidence to support your application.
What is happening with my application
If you have an existing application you can check the progress by logging in to the Health Service Portal.
If any additional information is required to progress your application, we will contact you.
To provide additional information or follow up:
log in to your Health Portal account where you submitted the application
upload new information or a message.
If you have made the application within 30 days of the date of your invoice, you will not be required to pay any amount until the outcome of your application has been determined.
Review for declined or partially approved fee waiver application
If your application for a quarantine fee waiver has not been approved or was partially approved, the reasons for the decision will be provided in the notice of the decision you receive.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome and have additional information that may substantially influence the decision, you may request a review. A request must be made within 14 days of the notice of the decision being sent.
To request a review of this decision, you will be required to:
log in to your Health Portal account where you made the original application
select Reopen this request under your COVID-19 Exemption and Waiver Service account
include additional relevant documentation (you can use the eligibility guide above as an example of what documents to include)
add a message with any additional information
select Send.
The review will only consider the additional information provided in conjunction with the evidence provided in the original application. All additional information must be provided at the time of review submission.
Health Service Portal troubleshooting
The Health Service Portal works best using the Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browsers.
Account locked
An account will be locked if an incorrect password is entered 3 times.
If your account has been locked, you should wait 15 minutes before attempting to log in again.
If the password still does not work, you should click Forgot my password on the log in screen and follow the forgotten password process to reset your password.
Forgotten password
If you have forgotten the password used to log in to your Health Service Portal account:
select the Click to reset link on the portal landing page
enter the email address used to set up your account
select submit.
A temporary password will be sent to your email address. When entering the temporary password, you should not copy and paste this from the email, as it will not be accepted.
Once you log in to your Health Service Portal account using the temporary password, you will be prompted to set up a new password for your account. The password must contain 10 characters including one each of:
an uppercase letter
a number
a special character.
Get help to submit an application
Call 13 QGOV (13 74 68) to request assistance with quarantine fees, payments and waivers.
Sometimes you may need extra help to get through a difficult time. For free, confidential, independent financial advice visit moneysmart.gov.au or call the national debt helpline on 1800 007 007.
Free additional support and advice for anyone experiencing difficulties is available from the following services:
Lifeline - 13 11 14 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
Beyond blue - 1300 22 4636 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
