The acceleration of the New South Wales reopening roadmap delivers hope and certainty that people can get on with their lives, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.

“Premier Perrottet is hitting the ground running with sensible, risk-based changes to keep people safe and accelerate the reopening.

“In return for doing the right thing and getting vaccinated at record levels, people in NSW are being rewarded.

“For businesses, the decision to ease some restrictions earlier than expected boosts confidence as they plan for Christmas, start ordering supplies and rostering on staff.

“Everyone in NSW now knows that restrictions won’t be kept in place a day longer than they are needed.

“Every state and territory should be acting with the same clarity and purpose to outline their plans to restore peoples’ freedoms, reopen safely and get on with the recovery.

“Vaccines dramatically reduce the risks of transmission and serious illness and Australians have answered the call to get protected, so of course we should plan a safe reopening now.

“Harsh restrictions don’t just have a monumental economic cost, every day we delay a safe reopening takes a serious toll on community cohesion and our social wellbeing.

“The faster we can safely reopen, get students back at school and get on with the recovery, the lower the long-term economic and social costs of lockdowns will be.”