Even as the pandemic rips across the globe, not every Australian overseas is desperate to come home.
It is estimated that more than 350,000 Australians and permanent residents have returned since the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued advice recommending those abroad who wished to return home amid the COVID-19 pandemic to do so as soon as possible.
While some have been battling cancelled flights, closed borders and capped traveller numbers to get home, others need to stay put aboard.
There are a plethora of reasons why many have chosen to continue their lives in other countries: jobs, families, commitments.
But for many Australian expats, the news that it was about to get even harder to come home felt like the removal of a safety net.
Six Australians tell the ABC their stories.
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‘I had financial and contractual obligations’
Tyson Waterman, an Australian teacher living in London, said he was compelled to stay put due to financial and contractual obligations.
“Many other Australian expats were in a position where they could pack up and leave — whether it be because they were in their early 20s working in hospitality or jobs that they were able to do back home — but my job requires me to be with my students and give a term’s notice before resigning,” he said.
“I was hopeful that I would be able to ride it out in London with an income and a roof over my head — something many other Australians who left did not have when we went into lockdown.”
Originally from Perth, Mr Waterman, 28, says he had always planned to return to Australia after two years, but feels the entry limitations and cost of quarantine he would now be facing are “extremely unfair”.
The cost of mandatory hotel quarantine in Western Australia is $2,520 for one a