Western Australians will no longer have to wear face masks or show proof of vaccination at most venues under new COVID-19 rules, as the nation records 33 more virus-related deaths.
WA will also scrap quarantine for asymptomatic close contacts, in line with national guidelines, from 12.01am on Friday.
But workplace vaccination mandates will remain in place, meaning the unvaccinated will still be prevented from working in virtually all industries.
Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson says WA's third dose vaccination rate is among the highest in the world at 79 per cent, paving the way for the removal of restrictions.
Face masks will still need to be worn by people over 12-years-old in hospitals, aged care and disability care facilities and on public transport and in rideshares and taxis.
Those aged eight to 11 will no longer have to wear masks, while all remaining venue capacity and public and private gathering limits will be abolished.
Western Australians will no longer need to show proof of vaccination at pubs and other venues but will be required to visit hospitals and aged care facilities.
Quarantine will be scrapped for asymptomatic close contacts, who must wear face masks outside of the home, avoid high-risk settings and undertake daily rapid antigen tests (RATs).
The state will also scrap G2G travel passes and no longer require interstate travellers to have had three vaccine doses.
Unvaccinated international arrivals must still quarantine for a week upon arrival, but that will be reviewed in four weeks.
Ms Sanderson on Tuesday said the measures were modest and targeted and could be scaled up if a new, more serious variant of the virus emerged.
Premier Mark McGowan is meanwhile on track to exit isolation as scheduled later this week after testing positive for COVID-19.
Ms Sanderson said the premier and his family were "going well" after one of Mr McGowan's children was briefly hospitalised with the virus.
WA's easing of requirements comes as there were 33 COVID-19-related deaths recorded across the country, and as a leading epidemiologist warns Australia could rue further relaxing restrictions.
NSW recorded 18 fatalities and there were 15 in Victoria on Tuesday.
A further 9,849 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in NSW, with 9,265 in Victoria and 958 in Tasmania.
Some 1,695 patients in NSW hospitals have COVID-19, including 67 in intensive care units (ICU). There are 455 people hospitalised in Victoria, including 33 in ICU, and 38 people with COVID-19 in Tasmanian hospitals, including one in ICU.
The ACT's decision to scrap the seven-day mandatory isolation rule for close contacts follows Victoria and NSW, .
Queensland's quarantine requirements will be eased for asymptomatic close contacts from 6pm on Thursday and South Australia will drop the need to isolate unless showing symptoms from Saturday.
Despite cases stabilising or falling across the country, University of Melbourne epidemiologist Nancy Baxter said the positivity rate for PCR tests remains high at about one-third.
She believes now is not the time to ease restrictions, suggesting it would be safer to do so in a few weeks to shorten the tail of the current Omicron wave.
"COVID is not going away," Professor Baxter told ABC TV on Tuesday.
"Right now we are in the denial phase of the pandemic where we want to live like we did before.
"Over the next two years what we're going to find is if we actually want to live well, we do have to adapt to the virus and do things a bit differently."
School resumes for most NSW students on Wednesday, when the week-long compulsory isolation for close contacts of pupils and teachers will also be ditched.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said last week the move would help prevent disruption in teaching and learning.
Teachers and students will be required to inform their schools of their close contact status, take a RAT daily and wear a mask indoors, except for primary school students for whom masks are only a strong recommendation.
If a school-wide outbreak is detected then large indoor gatherings will be put on hold, visitors will be limited and there could be a shift back to learning from home.
COVID-19 outbreak on WA cruise ship
A dozen people contracted COVID-19 on one of the first cruise ships allowed back into Western Australia since the pandemic began.
Ten passengers and two crew tested positive aboard the Coral Discoverer, which arrived in Broome early on Monday after a 10-day voyage from Darwin.
A spokesman for the ship's operator, Coral Expeditions, said all guests and passengers were triple-vaccinated in line with WA requirements.
The positive guests and their close contacts had isolated and some had been transported to designated hotels in Broome to finish their isolation periods.
All passengers and crew are being tested.
Small cruise ships carrying no more than 350 passengers and crew have been permitted to enter Western Australian waters since 17 April.
The Coral Discoverer, which departed from Darwin earlier this month, has a capacity of 72 passengers.
"Maritime vessels are permitted to allow positive cases to disembark and move to suitable accommodation to complete their isolation/quarantine requirements," a WA Health spokeswoman said.
Recent figures show that the number COVID-19-related deaths seem to be slowing, but the number of new daily cases in the three largest states are still in the thousands.
