John Barilaro announces permit system to allow people from Greater Sydney into regional NSW

From Saturday, anyone wishing to leave the Greater Sydney area for regional NSW will require an authorised permit.

Valid reasons for a permit include travelling for the purposes of work or urgent maintenance on a second property.

If urgent maintenance is required on a second residence, then only one person from the family is permitted to make the trip.

As well as the permit, anyone wishing to travel into regional NSW from Greater Sydney will have to have had a COVID-19 test and negative result within the previous seven days.

Anyone who lies on a permit will face a $5000 on-the-spot fine.

Mr Barilaro said the permits will make it easier for police to determine who should be in the regions.

"If you don't have a permit, then honestly those individuals that get pulled over will be given the full interrogation," he said.

"... what the permit system does, in one way, [helps] the police understand why people are leaving and every person who gets pulled over on a permit system, police will then go and double check through the system to make sure what they've ticked off and the information they've given matches up."

However, he admitted on Friday in his now regular media update that some people will find gaps in the system.

"If people are going to lie to get a permit - and some will, I can promise you that - there is no 100 per cent guarantee that we'll catch everybody," he said.

Mr Barilaro said the system will be assessed and if more needs to be done, the government will consider further actions.

"But, at this stage, I think it's a comfortable balance of governance and a level of trust," he said.

Earlier in the week, Mr Barilaro said he had confidence that harsher fines would discourage people from trying to enter regional NSW unlawfully.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: