Call to think beyond hotel quarantine

A review by former health department boss Jane Halton was presented to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders on Friday.

The review called on the national cabinet to consider new models of quarantine, saying while the 14-day hotel stay had served Australia well in the early days of the pandemic, it was time to look at other means.

Possible alternatives included seven-day hotel quarantine combined with testing, the use of monitoring devices, home quarantine and travel corridors.

On the issue of home quarantine, the report found the experience of the ACT had shown it can be effective with appropriate checks.

"It is noteworthy that Australian businesses have indicated willingness to manage quarantine arrangements for essential workers, including through the use of wearable monitoring devices for low-risk travellers to ensure that businesses can continue to operate," the report said.

The review found hotel quarantine was difficult to endure, expensive and required a highly specialised workforce to support it.

"Australia's one-size-fits-all approach should be reconsidered to take account of greater knowledge of the virus, different prevalence in countries of origin of travellers, an understanding of how to incorporate risk-based approaches in system design and different models of quarantine made possible by new testing and monitoring arrangements."

Since the start of mandatory hotel quarantine, 851 travellers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 during their quarantine period - a positivity rate of only 0.66 per cent.

The report said the system could be improved with better information provided to travellers, easier access to review processes and complaints mechanisms, an exemption for New Zealanders and a national facility for quarantine to be used for emergency situations.

Australian Associated Press