States move to ease mask mandate rules

From Friday, masks will no longer be required in most indoor settings in NSW, while similar easings will come into effect at 6pm in the ACT and at midnight in Victoria.

The measures come as COVID-19 case numbers flatline across the country, following the peak of the Omicron wave earlier this year.

In NSW, masks will only be required in high-risk settings such as public transport, aged care and hospitals.

Residents are recommended to still use face masks in indoor areas where physical distancing can't always be maintained, such as shopping centres.

Mask wearing will also be scrapped for high school students and staff from Monday, whereas staff and visitors at primary schools and childcare will need to wait until March 7 for mask rules to ease.

However, masks will still be required for high school students in the ACT, even after Canberra's rules ease from 6pm.

Otherwise, similar restrictions will be in place in the national capital as in NSW, with masks only needed in high-risk areas.

Victoria will have to wait a few hours longer for the state's mask mandates to be scrapped.

Staff at hospitality venues will still have to wear masks indoors, while students in years three to six will have to wear masks in the classroom.

However, the same mask rules won't apply to the state's high school students.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said earlier this week mask rules would remain for the time being for some primary school students due to the vaccination levels being relatively low among the cohort.

Masks will be required in high-risk locations, along with outdoor gatherings where more than 30,000 people are attending.

A new survey has revealed Australians are more hesitant to take up a COVID-19 booster compared to when they were first rolled out last year.

Analysis showed it's not because of vaccine misinformation or resistance, but disengagement from information about COVID-19 among some groups.

The survey conducted by the Australian National University revealed less than half of all double-vaccinated Australians aged 18 and over have had their booster.

It also found young Australians aged 18 to 24, Indigenous Australians, people with low education, and those who live in disadvantaged areas, are less likely to have received a third dose of a COVID vaccine.

Study co-author Nicholas Biddle says 65.4 per cent of people surveyed confirmed they would definitely get a booster compared to 71.9 per cent in a survey conducted in October.

"The findings suggest that booster uptake is not due to active resistance ... but rather because people either do not have that much information about the need for a third dose or because they have made a judgement that it is not necessary for them," he said.

"The experience of the first two doses, particularly side effects, may also have made some reluctant to seek out a third dose."

The latest COVID-19 figures showed 17 deaths have been reported on Friday, with 11 fatalities from Victoria and six in NSW.

There have been 14,163 new infections, including 7583 in NSW and 6580 in Victoria.

Australian Associated Press