More stranded Australians will be able to return home from later this month when international arrivals caps return to higher levels, as the coronavirus vaccine rollout nears.
The numbers were halved after new more contagious strains of coronavirus emerged in the UK and South Africa.
Queensland will return to a cap of 1000 people a week from February 1, while NSW will revert to 3000.
Victoria will increase its weekly hotel quarantine capacity to 1310 and SA has agreed to take 530 people a week.
WA will retain its halved cap of 500 until the end of the month.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the increased caps after a national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders on Friday.
The return to more arrivals coincides with when officials hope to begin vaccinating hotel quarantine workers, frontline staff and border officials with the Pfizer coronavirus jab.
Those workers are first in line, along with the elderly and most vulnerable.
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Department of Health boss Brendan Murphy says the risk of the virus leaking from hotel quarantine will reduce once workers in that health system have had the jab.
Professor Murphy hopes for state borders to then relax once more Australians are vaccinated.
While he was hesitant to give a possible time frame for when Australia’s international borders will ease, Professor Murphy said officials would keep a close eye on how well the population was protected after vaccinations.
“I don’t want to make a prediction but I think progressively over the second half of this year we should see a trajectory towards normality,” he told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday.
The government is aiming for most Australians to be vaccinated by the end of October.
The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be rolled out by the end of this month.
Australia now has 20 million doses of that medicine, which will be primarily for the most vulnerable and health workers.
Australia has secured more than 150 million doses of various vaccines.
That includes almost 54 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the vast majority to be manufactured in Melbourne, and more than 51 million from Novavax.
Approval for the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is expected by mid-February, with local manufacturing to get the tick of approval about a month later.
