Free rapid antigen tests will be provided to more than six million Australians while testing requirements have been cut following a meeting of the national cabinet.
Up to 10 tests will be provided through pharmacies for concessional card holders over the next three months in a scheme which Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he hopes will be up and running in a fortnight.
Meanwhile, people who return a positive result from a rapid antigen test will no longer be required to have a PCR test to confirm the infection and testing sites will be using rapid tests to ease queues and pressure on laboratories.
Labor has pushed for universally free rapid antigen testing, along with medical groups the Public Health Association of Australia and Australian Medical Association, the former group's CEO Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin saying: "We didn’t let the market decide the price for COVID-19 vaccines, and we must not let it determine RAT prices."
But the concept of universal free access to tests was not agreed "by any of the states and territories", Mr Morrison said after the meeting, where Western Australia was not present.
"Make that very clear. Universal free access was not considered the right policy response by all of the states and territories in attendance today, and the Commonwealth," he said.
"What was agreed, though, was providing, as I flagged two weeks ago, a model to provide concessional access for tests over a three-month period, and they will be made available through the pharmacy network.
"So I have spoken to the president of the Pharmacy Guild and they are in agreement to provide that service and there will be a maximum of 10 tests that will be provided on a concessional basis over those three months."
The cost of the rollout would be borne equally between the states and Commonwealth, Mr Morrison said, adding supply of RATs may be tight in the coming weeks.
"Supply will continue to be constrained in the pharmacies and supermarkets over the next couple of weeks, that is what they have told us, but then they are anticipating with their further supplies coming through and that will increase the availability right across those areas."
The Prime Minister said 200 million RATs would be coming to Australia over the next two months.
As well as the removal of the requirement to take a PCR test to confirm a positive RAT, the requirement for overseas arrivals to have a second test has also been removed.
"If you're a close contact and you had a rapid antigen test and it's positive, you do not need to get a PCR test to confirm that. That'll take the pressure off the PCR testing lines," the Prime Minister said.
"For those who're returning or arriving from overseas, they will have ... a rapid antigen test on arrival. [If] that is negative then they will not be required to have a further test remembering that 99 per cent of those who are turning up at our airports are double-vaccinated."
The announcements came as Australia deals with a wave of fresh infections.
