While one paramedic is taking the vaccine mandate to court, the the vaccine rollout is high on the list of agenda items when the national cabinet meets on Friday.
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A veteran paramedic and deputy mayor has raised more than $35,000 in a day in his bid to overturn NSW's vaccine mandate for health workers.
Tumut paramedic John Larter is seeking declaratory relief to allow him to continue to work unvaccinated after September 30 as long as he's wearing appropriate personal protective equipment.
"Why are they happy for me to work until the 30th? If it was such a danger, you'd have me taken off the road today, wouldn't you?" he said this week. "Why are the GPs exempt?"
His case against what he calls "medical apartheid" will be heard for the first time by the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.
Epidemiology, vaccine take-up levels, the ongoing coronavirus situation in NSW and the national COVID plan will be among the main items discussed by national cabinet.
Leaders will also hear of updates on virus modelling from the Doherty Institute.
Melburnians have been urged not to abuse new COVID-19 freedoms allowing up to five fully vaccinated adults to gather for a walk or picnic from this weekend.
To mark Victoria reaching its 70 per cent first dose vaccination target on Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews announced a suite of "modest" restriction changes for Melbourne from Saturday including small outdoor gatherings.
The premier said police will not be going from park to park to check the vaccination status of those gathering for picnics, but he hoped Victorians would "do the right thing".
"There's a degree of good faith in this," Mr Andrews said.
And in another show of confidence, the NRL will hand out a combined $7 million in COVID-19 relief packages to clubs to make up for lost revenue through a lack of crowds and home games.
Clubs in NSW, the ACT and Victoria have been doing it tough due to lockdowns and closed leagues venues that has affected their bottom lines.
Each club will be paid around $100,000 for every home game lost either to relocation or matches played without crowds.
Swimmer Shayna Jack is free to return to the pool after an appeal seeking to increase her doping ban was dismissed.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that Jack's two-year doping ban, which she has served, will stand.
- with AAP