Isolation requirements and pandemic leave payments will be at the top of the agenda when federal, state and territory leaders meet for national cabinet.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will host his colleagues in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, where state premiers will push to shorten the COVID-19 isolation time from seven to five days.
But while the federal government will be responsive to the health advice, Australians should not expect the emergency payments to go on forever, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
"The reality ... is that kind of support can't continue forever (and) it's also contingent on some of the other ways that we're responding to this health and economic challenge," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
"One of the issues at play is the length of the isolation period and, not wanting to pre-empt the discussion that will happen this afternoon, it's a relevant consideration as well."
But if isolation is mandated, payments must continue, the Australian Council of Trade Unions says.
"You need to make sure that people are supported to do so and you need to do that because of equity reasons, some people are paid (sick leave) and some aren't," ACTU secretary Sally McManus told reporters.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the government cannot ask people to choose between keeping their workplaces healthy and feeding their children.
"I very much support continuing that pandemic payment," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"It doesn't expire until the end of September but I would be very strongly of the view that our partnership with the Commonwealth should in fact continue."
Meanwhile, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is calling for a nationally consistent approach on isolation requirements.
Mr Perrottet wants the isolation period reduced from seven to five days to help businesses struggling with workforce shortages.
But Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said isolation requirements should be scrapped all together, and the government needs to get ahead of the curve so people can live with the virus rather than ignoring rules they see as an imposition.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the community expected arrangements put in place at the height of the pandemic to be unwound over time.
LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA:
Victoria: 2857 cases, 26 deaths, 333 in hospital with 20 in ICU
NSW: 5434 cases, 22 deaths, 1802 in hospital with 38 in ICU
Tasmania: 269 cases, three deaths (including two historical), 28 in hospital with two in ICU
ACT: 236 cases, no deaths, 90 in hospital with two in ICU
Queensland: 2294 cases, 14 deaths, 316 in hospital with 10 in ICU
SA: 639 cases, three deaths, 116 in hospital with six in ICU
WA: 1380 cases, one death, 228 in hospital with six in ICU
NT: 123 cases, no deaths, 20 in hospital with no one in ICU
