LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
* Victoria recorded 15 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths, taking the state toll to 771 and the national figure to 859.
* Melbourne's crucial 14-day new case average dropped to 29.4, below the figure of 50 needed for authorities to consider easing some restrictions.
* Melbourne's coronavirus lockdown curfew will be tested with a two-day trial in the state's highest court next week.
* South Australia's border restrictions with NSW will lift at midnight after the state recorded its second day of no community transmissions.
* NSW residents travelling to SA will no longer have to go into 14 days of self-isolation so long as they do not enter via Victoria.
* NSW recorded six new cases, all of whom were returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.
* Rent relief measures put in place to help NSW residential tenants and landlords suffering financial hardship because of COVID-19 will be extended for six months.
* Queensland will shift its border zone 100km further south from next weekend, opening the door to residents in five more NSW council areas. There were no new cases in Queensland in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday.
* Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles confirmed it had been 13 days since the state's last community transmission, as the number of active infections fell from 16 on Tuesday to just five on Wednesday.
* Queensland has added five more northern NSW councils to its border bubble.
* Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt is hopeful greater freedoms will deliver a psychological boost.
* Tasmania is considering opening its borders to some states before the end of October.
* The Northern Territory is offering interstate travellers up to $1000 to visit the Top End during the wet season.
* WA Premier Mark McGowan remains adamant his state's border won't reopen until NSW and Victoria go 28 days without community transmission.
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KEY DATES
* September 14 to September 27 - stage four lockdown for Melbourne with some changes, including the curfew moving back an hour to 9pm.
* September 24 - SA will allow NSW residents to enter the state without self-isolating for 14 days.
* September 27 - NSW, Queensland and WA will start taking more international arrivals.
* September 28 - if average daily cases are 30-50 in metro Melbourne over the previous 14 days the city will move to the 'second step', including increased limits for public gatherings and a staged return to school for some students.
* October 1 - Residents of Byron Shire, Ballina, the city of Lismore, Richmond Valley including Casino and Evans Head, Glen Innes and 41 other NSW postcodes will be added to the Queensland-NSW border bubble.
* October 26 - Tasmania's state of emergency due to expire. In Melbourne, the overnight curfew will be dropped if - over the previous fortnight - the average number of new cases falls below five and there are fewer than five cases from an unknown source.
* November - Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry report due.
* November 23 - If there are no new cases for 14 days in Melbourne the city will move to the 'last step'. That includes all retail shops opening, public gatherings of up to 50 people allowed outdoors, and up to 20 visitors at a time allowed into a home.
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AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* There were 30 new cases in Australia, including 15 in Victoria and six in NSW. Victoria announced an additional five deaths.
* The national death toll is 859: Victoria 771, NSW 55, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3.
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Cases: at least 31,500,000
* Deaths: at least 967,000
* Recovered: at least 26,100,000
Data current as of 1555 AEST September 23, taking in federal government and state/territory government updates, Worldometer and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.
Australian Associated Press
