Mandatory isolation period drops from seven days to five

The Prime Minister has made huge changes to the way Australia lives with Covid. Here’s everything you need to know.

Australians will soon only have to isolate for five days after national cabinet agreed to slash the quarantine period from seven days.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said leaders agreed to the change in the nation’s Covid settings following fresh advice from Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd.

There are some exceptions. Symptomatic patients have been directed to stay at home and workers in high risk setting will have to quarantine for the full seven days.

“Clearly, if you have symptoms, we want people to stay home. We want people to act responsibly,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

National cabinet also agreed mask mandates on domestic flights will also be abolished from next Friday.

Anthony Albanese announced the changes on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

The paid pandemic leave eligibility period will also change from 9 September to reflect the shorter isolation period.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet had been leading the charge for isolation to be cut to five days but was last month overruled by Professor Paul Kelly as Omicron cases continued to surge.

Mr Albanese hinted this week the isolation time frame of seven days would be revisited by national cabinet, despite just last month saying it was not suitable to reduce it.

Speaking after the meeting on Wednesday, he said the change was now “appropriate” based upon the “weight of evidence”.

“We had a discussion about people looking after each other, people looking after their own health, people being responsible for that and making sure that they look after each other,” the Prime Minister said.

He said it was now appropriate to make the switch. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“There aren’t mandated requirements for the flu or for a range of other illnesses that people suffer from.”

“What we want to do is to make sure that government responds to the changed circumstances … Covid likely is going to be around for a considerable period of time.”

With Australia emerging from its winter peak, national cabinet’s approach softened. But not enough to scrap mandatory quarantine all together.

“We are clearly not in a position to do that at this point in time and no one was arguing for that to happen at this point in time,” Mr Albanese said.

Masks will be no longer mandatory on flights. Brisbane CBD Monday 4th July 2022 Picture David Clark

The announcement was warmly received by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chief Andrew McKellar said it would help ease the crippling workforce shortages.

“This change will enable more employees to return to work earlier, ensuring businesses can keep their doors open and keep the economy moving,” he said.

Health Services Union boss Gerard Hayes, who had been vocal in his opposition to keeping the isolation period, said the announced changes didn’t go far enough.

“It’s how we walk and chew gum at the same time. If we do that, in a logical sense, with personal responsibility being paramount, well, then we can start to move forward, very quickly and very safely,” he told ABC radio.

However, with another meeting flagged the next fortnight, the Prime Minister said a further discussion on scrapping quarantine could be on the cards in the future.

But if that would line up for when the paid pandemic leave ends next month, Mr Albanese refused to say.

“The five days of leave, at some time in the future, that will be reassessed, but there is no timing for that,” he said.

What is changing with isolation periods?

From next Friday, if you test positive Covid-19 asymptotic people will only have to stay at home for a five day period.

But workers in high-risk settings such as aged care and disability care will have to isolate for the full seven days.

National cabinet met in Sydney on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Do I need to wear a mask?

National cabinet also agreed to wind back one of the last remaining enforced mask mandates.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) revised its directions on mask mandates in airports in June.

Masks remained mandatory on all domestic flights despite the pleas from Qantas chief Alan Joyce for them to be scrapped.

But from next Friday, Australians will be free to jump on a plane without having to mask up.

Asymptomatic people will no longer have to isolate for seven days. Picture David Clark

What is happening to paid pandemic leave?

National cabinet will meet in a fortnight to discuss the future of the $750 payment for those who have to isolate but are not eligible for sick leave.

The government had wanted to end the payment all together last month, citing budgetary constraints, but they buckled under immense pressure from the states.

Both Dominic Perrottet and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews stressed on Tuesday that support for workers must continue as long as the government imposed restrictions on them.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Treasurer Jim Chalmers made it clear the payment couldn’t go on forever.

Mr Albanese echoed that sentiment after his meeting with state leaders, vowing to revisit the scheme after consultation.