Charles Sturt Associate Professor Rachel Whitsed's research suggests moving the checkpoint 60 kilometres north could reduce the amount of people needing to cross the border by up to 90 per cent.

Associate Professor Whitsed used census data and spatial modelling to calculate how many workers are likely affected by the border closure.

"A large number of workers in the region are being denied access to their workplaces," she said.

"This has prompted me to consider what the human cost of the border closure is and the difference it might make if the checkpoints were moved.

"In most of the Victorian towns around Albury-Wodonga a large proportion work north of the border, and under the current restrictions, cannot cross the border unless they are a critical worker.

"To work this out, I took cross tabulations of place of work and place of residence from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census at Statistical Area 2 level."

The analysis shows in most of the region just outside the border zone, at least 20 per cent of the working population are unable to go to work.

"In Rutherglen it is almost 30 per cent," Associate Professor Whitsed said.

"This equates to around 3500 people unable to get permits for work, and another 10,500, who live and work within the border zone but on opposite sides of the river, requiring permits.

"Add to this the school children and people needing medical treatment and the human cost is much higher."

While she agrees there needs to be a stop of unnecessary movement of people to stem the spread of COVID-19, there needs to be a different solution.

"For comparison, if checkpoints were instead around 60 kilometres north of the border - north of Holbrook, between Culcairn and Wagga Wagga, how many people would need to cross this line for work," she said.

"Just over 1100, or about 10 per cent of the population who currently need permits.

"We need to find a solution that does not require a barrier in the middle of a community of 100,000 people."