The union that represents workers in hospitals and the aged care sector wants to scrap mandatory COVID-19 isolation.
Wednesday's national cabinet meeting is likely to discuss isolation periods, with NSW Premier Dom Perrottet leading the push to reduce it from seven to five days.
But Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes said it was time to move towards personal responsibility.
"We've got to get to a point where we can walk and chew gum and we're moving to that direction now," he said.
"We're starting to see life return to normal and I think that includes ensuring that we treat COVID as we would treat the flu, measles or anything else. And if people are infectious, they should be staying at home."
Gerard Hayes says if people do not have symptoms, they should be allowed to work, adding that high vaccination rates will help protect the community.
He said he was not convinced by warnings from some medical experts that it was too soon to get rid of mandated isolation.
"I think the medical experts have done a fantastic job getting us here but so has the community," he said.
"We're seeing the community suffering, people trying to put food on the table and comply with regulations. We need to get to a point of personal responsibility."
But epidemiologist Nancy Baxter from the University of Melbourne warns it is too soon to even reduce the seven-day isolation period, let alone scrap it.
"If we abandon all isolation rules, you're going to have people in the workplace with active COVID able to spread COVID to others.
"So you're going to make the workplaces less safe [and] you're going to end up with more people sick with COVID because you're going to increase transmission."
She said COVID was a different disease than the flu or measles.
"It may be convenient to think about them the same, but it isn't necessarily effective, it doesn't help us."
Is Australia falling behind?
The United States has a five-day isolation period and the United Kingdom has none.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has argued Australia risks falling behind global standards without changes to isolation rules.
Gerard Hayes has warned if mandates continued here, people would start ignoring them.
"If we maintain where we were at in 2020 and 2021, we'll have an issue of non-compliance," he said.
"I think it's important to be ahead of the game instead of playing catch-up or get to a point where people aren't compliant and all our good efforts could be thrown out the window."
He is not expecting isolation to be scrapped immediately but is calling for a clear path towards ending mandates soon.
"This is the discussion that should be had now, not just, 'We'll stay here for 6 or 12 months and talk again'," he said.
"It's important we give the community confidence that we're progressing through COVID and that life is returning to normal."
