Officers have turned around more than 500 vehicles in the Murray River Police District, which includes multiple border sites in the Albury region, since greater restrictions were introduced at midnight on Thursday.

Member for Albury Justin Clancy agreed many, including himself, had been blindsided by the changes.

Albury Superintendent Paul Smith said the changes had been challenging for many at the border.

"Of course it's been a big impact on returning NSW residents, transiting residents, whether it be to the ACT or Queensland, those in particular," he said.

"We had over 500 turnarounds since Thursday midnight.

"A lot of them were able to rectify their issue and get their permit sorted.

"Some of them have to follow their new permit conditions, which may not be returning by land or the hard checkpoint."

IN OTHER NEWS:

In one case on Sunday, police fined a group of people who tried to cross the border three times without a permit.

They had been twice turned around and received penalty notices on the third occasion.

Police have been using number plate recognition technology to check vehicles and are scanning permits to check car movements.

Superintendent Smith acknowledged the public frustration with the checkpoints, but said nobody would be could crossing without a permit.

"Please, get a valid permit," he said.

"If you can't get a valid permit, that's the way it is at this time."

Mr Clancy said the changes enacted late last week, without notice, had been "extremely challenging for our community".

He also said he was concerned that Culcairn and Henty had been outside of the border zone, which was being reviewed on Monday.

"For me the biggest concern to come out of the last public health order is it was released with no time for the community to have awareness to be prepared," he said.

"The media weren't given any any briefing on Friday morning.

"For that matter, as the local member, I received no briefing either."

Mr Clancy said he was pushing for better communication from Service NSW.

"It has had an impact on our community," he said.

Police saw a spike in people trying to enter NSW before the restrictions were tightened.

Mr Clancy said there were some positive signs coming out of Victoria, but it remained unclear how long the borders would be closed.