Skilled migrants and international students can return to Australia from Wednesday when travel bubbles involving Japan and South Korea will also begin.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed a two-week pause on Australia’s international reopening will end as scheduled on Wednesday 15 December.
This means travel bubbles with Japan and South Korea, pushed back because of concerns about the Omicron COVID-19 variant, can also go ahead.
The prime minister emphasised Australia’s education and tourism ties with South Korea during a visit by that country’s president Moon Jae-in to Canberra.
Mr Morrison said he looked forward to welcoming back some 20,000 Korean students who would ordinarily come to Australia to study.
“The borders will be reopened both to Korea and to Japan, and for skilled migration and for students, as we conclude the pause that we announced several weeks ago,” he told reporters on Monday.
Mr Moon hoped the travel bubble would lead to a greater exchange and economic revitalisation between the two nations.
“For Korean people who are fully vaccinated, I appreciate that the Australian government will grant a quarantine-free entry starting from December 15,” he said.
It comes as Australia brings forward booster shots by a month because of concerns about the Omicron variant.
Adults can now get the third dose five months after their second shot as Moderna is approved to join Pfizer as a booster option.
Health Minister Greg Hunt indicated the government would make further changes to its booster program if recommended by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
He was encouraged by evidence showing Omicron led to a milder illness despite being more transmissible.
“That could turn out, as many international sources have indicated, to be a quietly positive development for the world,” Mr Hunt said.
NSW on Monday recorded 536 COVID-19 infections, while Victoria reported 1290 cases and two more deaths.
Queensland had one new locally acquired case as it opened its border to fully vaccinated people from interstate.
The state also recorded another nine cases, all but two from interstate arrivals, in hotel quarantine.
Slightly more than 89 per cent of Australians aged 16 and older are fully vaccinated.
About 93 per cent have received one dose while more than 670,000 people have had a booster shot.
Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin stressed booster shots made a significant difference in protection against Omicron.
“All of that information that’s coming in is suggesting that Omicron looks milder, but people that have been vaccinated with just two doses are less protected than they were from Delta,” she told ABC radio.
Professor Lewin wanted to see countries such as Australia do more to ensure poorer nations could vaccinate their populations.
“Variants will continue to emerge, those variants are unpredictable and they are much more likely to emerge when there’s lots of infection,” she said.
“We need to really assist countries in the implementation and rollout of those vaccination programs.”
Via AAP