Minister flags scrapping international arrival caps when borders reopen

Caps on international arrivals will be lifted when Australia hits the 80 per cent double dose COVID-19 vaccination milestone, the Morrison government has confirmed.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan reiterated the government's commitment to the national plan to reopen international borders as more than 43,000 Australians remain stranded overseas due to intake caps.

"The national plan that was agreed by all states and territories leaders ... that once we hit that 80 per cent mark, those international caps get lifted," Mr Tehan told Today.

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The Federal Government and Australian airlines were working towards a vaccination mandate for international travellers, Mr Tehan said.

"What we're seeing is that the airlines are saying that they want to see people who are vaccinated.

"That's why we've put the vaccination certification requirements in place."

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Mr Tehan said reopening the borders will begin with outbound travel.

Inbound travel will then begin with countries that have high vaccination rates such as New Zealand and Singapore.

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"Obviously with New Zealand we're able to do that quarantine-free. It would be great if we could get that up and running again.

"Then we're in discussion with the Pacific Islands, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, the US, the UK on what those travel arrangements will look like."

Meanwhile Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia expects international visitors including skilled migrants and students to return when borders are reopened.

Mr Morrison was speaking from Washington where he is meeting US officials and holding talks with world leaders including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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Mr Morrison was asked about additional plans to help bring England cricketers to Australia for the Ashes series.

He reiterated that the Federal Government is planning for reopening when double vaccination levels of the population reaches 80 per cent late this year.

"At 80 per cent vaccination rates, the plan provides for people to travel again and that's certainly what we intend to facilitate," Mr Morrison said.

"We're expecting to be welcoming back students. We're expecting to be welcoming back skilled migrants. We're expecting to be welcoming back, when they're vaccinated, people into the country when they're vaccinated on that basis."