The interGovernment National Cabinet, composed of the Prime Minister, State and Territory Premiers and Chief Ministers has released a framework to reopen Australia by Christmas.
In a statement following last Friday’s (23 October) meeting, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said all States and Territories, except Western Australia, had agreed in principal to the Framework for National Reopening which built on the Three-Step Framework for a COVID Safe Australia developed last May.
“The Framework will provide the Australian community and businesses with a way forward where Australians can live and work in a COVID Normal Australia, recognising that the highly infectious nature of COVID-19 means that it will be present until a COVID-19 vaccine is found,” Mr Morrison said.
“The Framework will establish an updated Common Operating Picture with strengthened criteria to ensure that health systems are prepared and detailed information is publicly available on COVID-19 conditions,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the Commonwealth, along with seven States and Territories had agreed to finalise the Framework by the next National Cabinet meeting (13 November) and ensure that a new Common Operating Picture was publicly available by 1 December.
He said the National Cabinet had commissioned a new Mental Health National Cabinet Reform Committee to deliver a new National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement by November 2021 and oversee the implementation of the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan.
The Prime Minister said the National Cabinet also agreed to establish a Taskforce on Veterans’ Wellbeing in recognition of the challenges faced by current and ex-service personnel.
The new 12-page Framework can be accessed at this PS News link.
