The Australian government has announced mandatory COVID isolation will be scrapped from 14 October 2022, marking the end of one of the last remaining pandemic restrictions.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state and territory leaders agreed people with COVID-19 will no longer be subject to a mandatory isolation period, following a National Cabinet meeting today (Friday 30 September 2022).
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Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the decision was the result of lower rates of COVID-19 transmission and high vaccination rates.
“It does not in any way suggest that the pandemic is finished,” he said. “We will almost certainly see future peaks of the virus into the future, as we have seen earlier this year.
“However, at the moment, we have very low rates of…cases, hospitalisations, intensive care admissions, aged-care outbreaks and various other measures that we have been following very closely.”
The isolation period, however, will still apply to employees in vulnerable settings such as hospital workers and those in aged care. National Cabinet has agreed to continue targeted financial support for casual workers in these sectors, which include the following:
- Aged care
- Disability care
- Aboriginal health care
- Hospital care
Support payments for people infected with COVID-19 who are not in those sectors will end from 14 October 2022.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the changes to the Pandemic Disaster Leave Payment program, saying it was the right time for the adjustment and that state and territory leaders are in support.
“It isn’t sustainable for the government to pay people’s wages forever,” he said. “It was always envisaged that these measures were emergency measures that were put in place.
“The flu has existed, and health issues have existed, for a long period of time, and the government hasn’t always stepped in to pay people’s wages while people have health concerns.”
Each state and territory will determine how this removal of the isolation requirement will be implemented.
Refer to the Department of Health for more information regarding COVID-19.
Insider Guides will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
