National cabinet's call to scrap the compulsory isolation period for people with COVID-19 is "100 per cent the right decision", NSW's premier says.
Dominic Perrottet has brushed off criticism from the Australian Medical Association after state and territory leaders unanimously decided those testing positive to COVID-19 will no longer be required to isolate for five days from October 14.
"This was definitely the right decision," he told reporters on Monday.
"The AMA disagrees. But let's not forget the AMA is a doctors' union. They're not epidemiologists."
He said the decision was supported by Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly, who is an epidemiologist, in addition to "a number of epidemiologists who support this approach".
Mr Perrottet spearheaded the push to remove mandatory isolation when national cabinet met on Friday, saying it was in the best interests of the Australian people.
"It's time for Australia to move forward," he said.
"I believe in freedom ... I believe in liberty," he said.
The consensus from leaders from every jurisdiction across the political divide was "a very pleasing aspect", he said.
AMA Victoria president Roderick McRae has welcomed the decline in virus case numbers, but backed calls to release the health advice that led to the decision, which he said was "purely a social call".
Any spike in COVID-19 infection rates from large events such as football grand finals and the Melbourne Royal Show would take weeks to show up, he said over the weekend.
"We actually know that it's always about 15 days after an event that we start to see the consequences."
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation assistant secretary Lori-Anne Sharp said there would be extra pressure on hospitals if more variants of the virus emerged.
"We believe the suggestion that COVID isolation is a matter of 'personal responsibility' is just a way of governments shifting their responsibility onto the individual when it should be theirs," she said on Friday.
