Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Major changes made to Australia's isolation rules

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo / AP

Australia's mandated Covid isolation period will be reduced from seven days to five after the national cabinet reached consensus on the changes.

The decision will not apply to "vulnerable settings" which means, for example, that aged care workers may need to stay home for seven days.

"The National Cabinet agreed the isolation periods for Covid-19 positive cases would be reduced from seven to five following a positive test, with the following caveats," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

"This would apply to people with no symptoms. Clearly, if you have symptoms, we want people to stay home.

"We want people to act responsibly. Seven days isolation will remain for workers in high-risk settings including aged care, disability care, home care is important as well.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo / AP

"I believe, and first ministers agreed, that on the evidence, this was a proportionate response at this point in the pandemic."

The changes will come into force on September 9.

Australia's National Cabinet also agreed to remove the mandatory wearing of masks on domestic flights.

"This change will also come into effect from Friday September 9," Albanese said.

It came after Victoria Premier Dan Andrews ruled out any push to completely scrap isolation rules when workers catch Covid but left the door open to reduce the time to five days.

Speaking in Melbourne ahead of today's national cabinet meeting, Andrews flatly rejected a push to completely scrap isolation rules as is the case in the United Kingdom.

"I don't have advice that would be the right thing to do at all," he said.

Andrews said state premiers had requested health advice based on case numbers dropping and summer approaching.

"We have to get to a point where if you are sick you stay at home and if you are not sick, you can go to work," NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters on Monday.

Andrews was slightly more cautious than Perrottet but said he was open to "fresh" health advice.

"The time is right for us to get fresh advice," Andrews said.

"No one enjoys isolation, no one wants rules on any longer than they need them to be."

The calls have been backed by some in the health sector.

"We need to have that discussion this week," Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes told News Corp.

"There's huge pressure on the health workforce, the aged care workforce as we're also seeing in many other workforces."

Hayes said 2,500 health workers were furloughed daily nationwide and it was time to take "personal responsibility".

"Personal responsibility is important and living with Covid is something we've got to get used to," he said.

Hayes said a commonsense approach of isolating when you're symptomatic was still needed.

"Most of us have all had Covid now and the symptoms could be two to three days," he said.

"Hopefully the national cabinet will be looking at these measures."

Mask mandates and updated vaccination advice are also expected to be up for discussion.

In late July, the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the Moderna vaccine for targeting the Omicron variant.