Australia will reopen all state and territory borders by Christmas - except WA, PM says

Australia will reopen state and territory borders by Christmas, with the exception of Western Australia, the Prime Minister says, as he expanded on continuing plans to get Australians home from overseas.

Mr Morrison said at today's National Cabinet meeting, a framework for national reopening was agreed by state and territory leaders.

"This is the plan to have Australia open by Christmas with the exception of Western Australia," he said.

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"This plan importantly embeds public health metrics remain, ensuring that when we open safely, we remain open safely."

Meanwhile, Mr Morrison confirmed no international students will be allowed into Australia yet.

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The country's hotel quarantine program will continue and Australians trying to get home will be put first.

There are more than 35,000 Australians registered with DFAT as wanting to come home, many of them expats living overseas.

The prime minister said 400,000 Aussies have come home since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, with 36,000 helped by the government.

Last month, government-backed Qantas flights were launched to Darwin.

Flight caps to limit numbers going into mandatory 14 day hotel quarantine mean seats on commercial airlines are strictly limited.

Mr Morrison admitted getting Australians home "remains a significant challenge".

He said Queensland will take an extra 150 people a week, and said Canberra and Darwin were also adding capacity, but didn't reveal numbers.

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The prime minister said he is meeting the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews next week to see how progress is being made on reopening Melbourne Airport, which will increase flight caps across the country.

Mr Morrison added flight caps would be made more flexible, and rather than being measured daily, would be done weekly.

"By doing them over a week we can get greater utilisation of the caps, which will increase our ability to get more Australians home, and wherever possible, we are looking for additional capacity," he said.

"When Victoria opens up to receive those flights again, that will help us get many more Australians back."

However that won't allow students to return, despite the impact on universities who rely on fees.

"The challenges we have in getting Australians home means the ability to move and take international students back at this time through quarantine arrangements does not present itself," he said.

"There is a queue, and Australians are at the front of the queue.

"We need to use every available space that we have in quarantine, and it is not simply a matter of other rooms and hotels to do it, there is also the police, the support that is needed to properly run quarantine."

Mr Morrison added said he's going to share information on Australia's successful pandemic strategies with US President Elect Joe Biden, who he spoke to this week.

"I will be forwarding it to their team, because it tells the story of why Australia is being successful and will continue to be successful," he said.