Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy says allowing small groups to gather is likely to be the first step towards easing coronavirus restrictions.
Mr Murphy indicated how Australia would approach relaxing the lockdown measures during evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into the government’s response to the pandemic on Thursday.
He also said easing restrictions on community sport and retail measures was under consideration.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy appears before a Senate Inquiry Select Committee on COVID-19. Source: AAP
But he said “large scale" gatherings would not be contemplated, warning against complacency.
“There is great concern if we relax too much too quickly we could get a second wave as could be seen in Singapore,” he said.
"We certainly would not be contemplating large scale gatherings - certainly some relaxation of the size of small groups is possible."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also indicated that restrictions could begin to be eased in three weeks.
The prime minister has outlined three requirements that would be needed before rules could be changed including more testing, better contact tracing and an enhanced response to local outbreaks.
"In three weeks ... [we] will be moving on the baseline restrictions," he said.
"States also are already moving where they have gone beyond the baseline restrictions in scaling that back."
Mr Morrison has refrained from speculating on what measures could be eased when questioned, saying he wants to wait for the medical advice.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media at a press conference in Canberra. Source: AAP
Mr Murphy warned it remains “very hard” to put a timeframe on lifting the COVID-19 measures.
He said re-opening Australia's borders to international travel would "absolutely" be the last ones to be eased, with no changes for at least three to four months.
"I cannot in the foreseeable future see the international risk to be such that we would do a material change in the border measures,” he said.
"(But) the national cabinet and prime minister has asked us to review them on a regular basis."
Mr Murphy said one exception could be New Zealand, but stated this proposal remained “quite speculative”.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters has supported the idea of a “trans-Tasman bubble” allowing travel between the two countries.
Mr Morrison said he was in regular contact with New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
“If there is any country in the world with whom we can reconnect with first, undoubtedly that’s New Zealand,” he said.
The prime minister announced a ban on Australians travelling overseas last month.
Mr Murphy cautioned that even once international restrictions were eased, strict quarantine measures for returning travellers would likely still be in place.
“Again one of the challenges of this virus - in the absence of a vaccine - is that no one has a very clear path about the future,” he said.
Australia’s coronavirus death toll has reached 76, but the rate of new infections continues to drop as the nation flattens the spread of the virus.
More than two-thirds of the 6,600 people who have been infected in Australia have fully recovered.
Mr Murphy said Australia wanted to have the “world’s best public health response” before considering further easing of the rules.
"We have to weigh up the public health risk versus the benefit to society and the economy," he said.
