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Hobart Hurricanes have one foot in the Big Bash League finals after Matthew Wade returned from personal leave and powered them to a crucial win over the Sydney Thunder.

Fresh off a week at home with his family, Wade smashed an unbeaten 83 from 54 balls in Hobart's 6-177 to set up the Hurricanes' nine-run win.

With the roof closed at Marvel Stadium, the Hurricanes were forced to contend with the most expensive powerplay of the competition as the Thunder went hard early.

But the Sydney team slumped from 2-92 after eight overs to 6-102, as part of a mid-innings collapse sparked by Jordan Thompson (3-24).

Thompson removed the Thunder's two dangermen in Alex Hales (38 from 17) and Jason Sangha (31 from 19), ripping the heart out of their pursuit for a seventh straight win.

Riley Meredith (3-29) then tore through the middle order, bowling both Ollie Davies and Ben Cutting in successive balls to stunt the chase.

The win tightened the Hurricanes' grip on fourth place, nine points clear of Brisbane Heat in sixth.

With just three games to play for the chasing pack, Hobart would need to lose both their remaining matches against the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars and have other results go against them to miss the top-five finals.

"It looks like we're going to be in the finals now," Wade said.

"Couldn't be happier, play a few more games and see what happens."

The second-placed Thunder's hopes of securing top spot are as good as over, seven points behind the Perth Scorchers with two matches to play.

Wade's innings came as he bumped himself down to No.3 in the order, while also ridding of the gloves to work closer with his bowlers in the field.

He hit eight boundaries and two big sixes in his knock, including one into the second tier over the legside off Nathan McAndrew.

He was dropped on 18 when he offered up an easy chance to Tanveer Sangha, while also surviving a run-out opportunity that same ball and caught-behind appeal the following over.

But Australia's Twenty20 World Cup hero rode his luck after scoring just 10 runs from his previous four innings since Christmas.

"I have played long enough to know the wheel turns eventually if you stay confident and back yourself," Wade said.

"I haven't scored then runs I would like to in the previous games.

"But a bit of a change or role, I just went out there and tried to play the way I play."

© AAP 2022

Transport workers, teachers and food supply staff will be able to return to work even if they were deemed a close contact, under new isolation changes agreed to by national cabinet.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders agreed on Thursday to expand the definition of essential workers, in order to address crippling supply issues across the country.

It comes as the prime minister also flagged changes to COVID-19 surveillance testing and mask wearing could be announced next week.

Thursday's national cabinet meeting agreed to expand the definition of essential workers to include transport, logistics, service station staff, emergency services, correctional workers, energy, water and waste workers.

Food distribution workers, telecommunication, broadcasting, media, education and childcare employees will also be classified as essential staff under the plan.

Isolation rules have eased for essential staff, with employees able to return to work even if they are deemed to be a COVID-19 close contact, provided they test negative to a rapid antigen test.

National cabinet also allowed for international students to work more than the current limit of 20 hours a fortnight, in a bid to ease supply-chain issues.

Spiralling numbers of Omicron cases have placed large swathes of workers out of action due to them either contracting COVID-19 or being deemed a close contact.

The prime minister said the situation was a delicate balance of keeping people at work while also protecting the health system.

"We know what we have to ... keep our hospitals going, keeping our health system strong and keeping as many people at work," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

"The less restrictions you put on people to get them to work, the more pressure that could potentially put on your hospital system."

National cabinet also agreed on a start date for when free rapid antigen tests would be made available for concession card holders.

From January 24, concession holders will be able to access 10 free tests from pharmacies during a three-month period, with no more than five per month.

National cabinet also discussed possible changes to COVID surveillance testing measures and rapid tests, along with the use of masks.

Details on COVID measures for schools such as regular testing of teachers will be announced next week.

"Parents and teachers and those working in schools, teachers aides and so on, will be well aware of what the arrangements are before school goes back," Mr Morrison said.

Treasury officials told national cabinet that up to 10 per cent of the workforce could be absent from their job due to the virus, rising to as high as 15 per cent if schools were unable to open.

Unions have slammed the government for not allowing free rapid tests for essential workers, with shortages of the tests being reported across the country.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said the government's plan had failed essential supply chains.

"Essential workers are being forced to put themselves in harm's way to keep food on the shelves, medicines in stock, the lights and water on and keep this country open for business," she said.

There were 346,000 vaccine doses administered on Wednesday, nearly a one-day record.

Since the start of the rollout for five to 11-year-olds began on Monday, 142,000 children, 6.2 per cent of the cohort, have received their first dose.

More than 92,264 new infections have been reported in NSW after residents rushed to post positive results from rapid antigen tests since January 1.

The dramatic rise in case numbers comes on top of another grim milestone as the state reported a record 22 lives lost in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday.

There were 37,169 new cases and 25 deaths in Victoria.

Queensland posted almost 15,000 new cases, while there were 3669 cases in South Australia, 1020 in the ACT - excluding rapid tests - 550 in the NT and 1100 in Tasmania.

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Scott Morrison has backed in Australia's tough health rules for international visitors, as a decision on Novak Djokovic's visa hangs in the balance.

The unvaccinated tennis star, who was on Thursday drawn in a first-round match for next week's Australian Open, landed a week ago only to be detained by border officials.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke was still considering the use of discretionary powers to cancel the visa after considering evidence provided by Djokovic's lawyers on the matter.

"These are personal ministerial powers able to be exercised by minister Hawke and I don't propose to make any further comment at this time," Mr Morrison said.

The prime minister was asked if unvaccinated non-citizens were a public health threat, and should keep a visa if they'd been allowed in.

Mr Morrison emphasised Australia's policy that a visa holder must be double-vaccinated or show acceptable proof they cannot be vaccinated to enter quarantine-free.

He said health rules at the border had been central to the government's handling of the pandemic.

"That is the policy and we would expect authorities to be implementing the policy of the government when it comes to those matters," he said.

Mr Morrison also stressed there was a difference between being granted a visa and border entry requirements.

The prime minister's remarks came after the grand slam's draw was mysteriously postponed "until further notice" just minutes before it was due to begin at around 3pm.

A YouTube stream set to broadcast the draw had already started, but was then taken down.

The draw was then rescheduled for 4.15pm, where Djokovic drew fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic for his first-round match.

Australian Border Force officials cancelled the world No.1's visa for entering the country while unvaccinated, only for the cancellation to be later quashed by a federal court.

Djokovic's lawyers have provided lengthy submissions and supporting documentation to the minister.

Officials looked into potential discrepancies on Djokovic's declaration form, which stated he did not travel out of the country in the two weeks before his flight to Australia.

Djokovic was filmed playing tennis in Serbia on Christmas Day and was later seen training in Spain on December 31, both in the two-week window.

However, Djokovic has denied he was trying to mislead the government on the form, stating an agent had made an "administrative mistake" while filling out the form.

In a statement posted to social media, the Serbian player also admitted to attending a media interview in Belgrade when he knew he had COVID.

After carrying out a PCR test on December 16, Djokovic attended the interview two days later.

"I felt obliged to go ahead and conduct the interview as I didn't want to let the journalist down, but did ensure I socially distanced and wore a mask except when my photograph was being taken," Djokovic wrote.

"While I went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, upon reflection, this was an error of judgement and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment."

Since he was freed from immigration detention on Monday, Djokovic has been training at Melbourne Park.

The 34-year-old is looking to win a record 21st grand slam title when the Australian Open begins on Monday.

The decision came as Spanish radio reported Djokovic was being investigated over entering the European country without proper authorisation.

Since late September, Serbian citizens required a vaccine certificate or special exemption to enter Spanish territory, but it is unclear what steps Djokovic took in seeking entry.

© AAP 2022