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National cabinet could announce a changed definition of "fully vaccinated" to three doses, as early as Thursday, according to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

Mr Andrews said a third dose is just as important as a first and second dose.

"This is not a two-dose thing (or) two doses and a bonus - it is absolutely critical and essential," he told reporters ahead of national cabinet meeting on Thursday.

"International evidence, our own experience, the views of experts and hopefully confirmation of both ATAGI and national cabinet today will mean everyone knows and understands this is a three-dose project."

When asked directly whether there could be national cabinet agreement of updating the definition to three doses, Mr Andrews said he "certainly hopes so".

"Hopefully we get that confirmation today," he said.

Mr Andrews said people want their three dose status to mean something but any changes wouldn't come into effect immediately.

National cabinet will also discuss the state of the health system, following one of the deadliest days of the pandemic with 87 fatalities on Wednesday.

Australia's retail sector is urging national cabinet for isolation exemptions to be extended to staff in the industry, as the prime minister meets with state and territory leaders.

Isolation rules for workers in a number of essential sectors were expanded earlier this month, and now there is a growing push for retail staff to be added to the list.

The exemptions would allow workers to go back to their jobs after being at a COVID-exposure site, provided they test negative to the virus on a rapid antigen test.

Chief executive of the Australian Retail Association Paul Zahra said it was time to live with COVID.

"If you can expand isolation exemptions for certain groups, it makes sense to expand it further to other categories of retail," he told ABC Radio.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has stepped up its push for international tourists to return to the country.

The chamber's chief executive Andrew McKellar said such a move would be a way to boost the post-pandemic economy.

"We are urging government to get ahead of the curve, start talking to the industry about how quickly it can happen," he told ABC TV.

"We do think in the weeks ahead, as the pressure comes off the health system, then the rationale for keeping these international border restrictions in place can be revisited."

Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said more planning was needed to allow the international travel sector to recover following years of uncertainty.

"We need to look at sensible solutions and it would be helpful if we actually had a national government that was leading," she said.

It comes as Victoria recorded 13,755 new cases on Thursday with 15 fatalities from the virus.

In NSW, there were 29 virus-related deaths and 117,316 cases, with nearly 10,000 of those coming from PCR tests.

NSW on Wednesday became the first state or territory to surpass one million cases.

Queensland recorded another 15 COVID-19 related deaths and 11,600 new cases.

Infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy said while large numbers of people have been infected with COVID, rates were starting to go down.

"One of the big reasons new cases are going down, and not just plateauing, is because the virus is running out of people to find and infect," he told the Seven Network.

"We are going to be seeing higher rates of hospitalisations and lots of stress to the system and intensive care occupied well into February before that starts going down."

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Former Seven Network television host Andrew O'Keefe has been arrested in Sydney, accused of grabbing a woman by the throat, punching, pushing and kicking her to the ground.

The 50-year-old presenter was arrested early on Thursday after getting into an argument with the 38-year-old woman on Tuesday in a Sydney CBD unit, which led to O'Keefe assaulting her, police said.

The former Deal or No Deal host is accused of "grabbing her by the throat, pushing her to the ground and punching her", police said in a statement.

He also "allegedly assaulted the woman a second time - punching and kicking her - before she left the unit".

O'Keefe, a former lawyer and son of former NSW Supreme Court judge Barry O'Keefe, was a founding member of domestic violence charity, the White Ribbon Foundation, where he served as chairman in 2017. The organisation went into liquidation in 2019.

White Ribbon had distanced itself from O'Keefe last year but has not commented on the latest arrest.

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State, territory and federal leaders will discuss the capacity of Australia's health system following one of the country's deadliest pandemic days.

Australia recorded 87 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday alongside more than 50,000 cumulative new infections.

The capacity of the country's health system, an update on the vaccine rollout and supply chain issues will be on the table at Thursday's national cabinet with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, premiers and chief ministers.

Slightly more than 93 per cent of Australians aged 16-plus are double-dosed, while only about 75 per cent of Indigenous people aged 16 and older have had two doses.

Labor's Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Linda Burney will use the resumption of federal parliament in February to demand transparency about first doses for under-12s as well as a breakdown of adult booster rates.

"The government should be reporting Indigeneity in the five-to-11 group, it doesn't make any sense that they're not," she told AAP.

"We need to know what the vaccination rates are for our very young people. And it's just remarkable to me and to many Aboriginal people that those those rates are not being reported."

Federal data shows about 33 per cent of all Australian children between the ages of five and 11 have received a first dose.

Nearly 76 per cent of the overall 12-to-15 age cohort is double-dosed.

In comparison, about 64 per cent of Indigenous children aged between 12 and 15 have received at least one dose.

More than seven million adults have received a third dose, but the federal government's daily vaccination tally does not show a breakdown for Indigenous people.

Meanwhile, Victoria recorded 35 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday.

It marked the state's deadliest day since the second virus wave in 2020. Another 13,507 new cases were also recorded.

In South Australia, 13 people died as that state recorded 2401 new infections.

NSW reported 29 new deaths and 21,030 additional infections, while nine more people died, and another 13,551 were infected, in Queensland.

The ACT reported 896 new case, the Northern Territory 492 and Western Australia 24.

© AAP 2022