People flying into Australia from overseas could soon be allowed to quarantine at home.
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The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee is looking at the safety of home isolation.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the timing of reviving home quarantine would be determined principally by the panel's health advice.
"But I'm hopeful it's something we can move to," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
In the early stages of the pandemic, people arriving in Australia quarantined at home until hotel systems were established.
Mr Morrison said the way the Chinese-Australian community followed home quarantine rules was vital to the nation's success in managing the first virus wave.
"Home quarantine can play a role in the future," he said.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese would not be drawn on the proposal.
"What we should be doing is taking the advice of the medical experts and the chief health officers, rather than making political decisions," he told reporters in Sydney.
Two weeks hotel quarantine is mandatory for overseas arrivals and some domestic travellers entering states and territories with closed borders.
The ACT is an exception, with people allowed to spend their quarantine period at home.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has announced limited arrivals from Victoria will be able to complete their stint at a suitable premises instead of a hotel at their own expense.
Entry to WA from Victoria will remain restricted to transport, freight and logistics workers, some politicians, military personnel and health workers.
Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry has been told the botched system was responsible for the state's outbreak, which has led to more than 750 deaths and a crippling lockdown.
Mr Morrison refused to take responsibility for his part in national cabinet's decision to quickly set up hotel quarantine arrangements across the country.
"It was actually the states and territories that were most urgent in moving forward," he said.
"They made the recommendation to move so quickly to establish hotel quarantine and we supported that."
The prime minister said he welcomed the speed at which states switched to hotels.
"In all other states and territories, I think the experience has been quite different to Victoria and that is a great shame," he said.
"But that is what has occurred and that's all plain for people to see."
Australian Associated Press