Southern organisations with staff who once regularly travelled to Australia are considering whether they will be allowed to do so again when the transtasman bubble opens on April 19.
The Auckland District Health Board has told its doctors they cannot fly to Australia for business or continuing education, and all staff have been told business travel would only be approved for critical reasons.
Its message to staff "strongly discouraged" them from taking a holiday in Australia.
The Southern DHB has not gone that far, and human resources general manager Tanya Basel said it had not issued any communications to staff on the question.
"We understand this is an area of interest for a number of our staff and we are working with other DHBs to develop consistent guidance for the sector."
The University of Otago will reconsider its travel rules next week, but for now has no policy on transtasman travel by staff.
An Otago Polytechnic spokesman said the institution allowed work-related travel, including for professional development, to Australia in exceptional circumstances and all requests were assessed on a case-by-case basis.
"We have not restricted travel for personal reasons, but have generally adopted the ‘flyer beware’ approach and have asked that staff ensure that they have considered all of the potential risks with travelling to Australia, including what might happen should their travel be affected by a lock-down or similar scenario."
Staff who planned to holiday in Australia were expected to work with managers to ensure contingency plans were in place, particularly for teaching.
