A mother and son who accidentally breached protocol by travelling on from Sydney to Melbourne without quarantining are not to blame for the mistake, NSW Police say.

Miscommunication led to a junior NSW Police officer, who was on his second shift, believing the German dual nationals were exempt from hotel quarantine.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy told Ben Fordham the junior officer is remorseful for the error, and there was no ill intent on the part of the two passengers.

“It’s simple English: we really have made a mistake, we’ve owned the mistake, we’ve moved forward.

“It’s two people out of 100,000 people at the airport.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty