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The "challenging question" of when unvaccinated people can take part in society is undecided by the NSW government, but the state's treasurer says "open up" once everyone has been offered two jabs.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has said he does not want a "two-tiered society" in NSW.

"Once every single person in this state has had the opportunity be vaccinated with two doses then we should open up for everyone," Mr Perrottet told Sydney radio 2GB on Friday afternoon.

Opposition Leader Chris Minns suggested the comment could undermine public health messaging.

"It's really important the NSW government is singing from the same song sheet and continues to encourage people to get vaccinated," Mr Minns said.

The freedoms to be reinstated once the state reaches the 70 per cent target next month are limited to those who are fully vaccinated.

Those who have not received two jabs will not be able to attend restaurants, shops, pubs and other places that are set to reopen.

The NSW premier has discouraged people from thinking of the state's reopening next month as "Freedom Day".

NSW was "almost gallop(ing) to the finish line" of 70 per cent full vaccination among its eligible population, which would trigger the reopening, Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday.

But the government and its citizens must still behave responsibly, she said.

"I'm always wary of using terms like Freedom Day because when we start to open up it must be step-by-step, it has to be done cautiously," Ms Berejiklian told reporters.

The state reported 1043 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, 20 fewer than the day before.

Eleven people died, of whom 10 were unvaccinated.

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant told reporters "we will not (ever) go back to pre-COVID".

"We'll always have to be mindful that COVID exists ... It's not going to be back to normal," she said.

NSW residents would have to keep getting booster shots and listening to health advice when there were outbreaks, even when vaccination rates were higher, she said.

At least 84 per cent of NSW residents have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and more than 57 per cent are fully vaccinated.

One-third of NSW children aged between 12 and 15 have already been vaccinated despite being eligible for the jab for less than a fortnight.

There are 1186 COVID-19 patients in hospital in NSW, with 232 in intensive care beds and 110 on ventilators.

Meanwhile, alcohol is now allowed temporarily at some Sydney public parks to "reward and thank" vaccinated picnickers.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said rules restricting alcohol at sites managed by Placemaking NSW will be put on hold until October 31.

"After an incredibly tough winter, people who have followed COVID rules and received both jabs deserve to enjoy a beer or wine responsibly," Mr Stokes said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

© AAP 2021

Image: U.S. Secretary of Defense, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Australia's tourism and trade minister believes international borders will be open in time for Christmas.

Dan Tehan, who is preparing to jet off for a range of overseas meetings with counterparts, said the nation was on track to lift travel restrictions this year.

"I do empathise with the Australians who have been denied the opportunity to travel overseas this year. It's another reason why everyone should get vaccinated," he told the National Press Club on Wednesday.

"We have to stick to the national plan that will see our international border open up - at this rate by Christmas at the latest."

More than 45,000 Australians are stranded overseas with the figure rising in recent months due to reduced passenger arrival caps.

About 4700 are considered vulnerable.

Mr Tehan said the government was considering travel bubble arrangements with other countries, similar arrangements with New Zealand established earlier this year.

"That will mean there will not be the restrictions on 14-day quarantine that otherwise would be the case for people returning to Australia," he said.

"What those quarantine arrangements would look like will depend on the negotiations with the travel bubble of the particular country."

Mr Tehan said he hoped to see home quarantine arrangements established across the country, as a way to speed up a return to eventual overseas travel.

Trials in South Australia have used facial recognition and location technology to ensure people were at home.

"Ultimately we've still got a little bit of work to do on that, but that's basically the plan that we're look at as we head to that 80 per cent national vaccination rate," the minister said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the federal government leaving arrival caps to states and territories was absurd given it was responsible for customs, immigration and borders

"It is terrible that people are stranded. We need to fix it," he told ABC radio.

He said federally run purpose-built quarantine centres with state support were the answer.

Home quarantine is expected to be in place on a larger scale before quarantine hubs in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth are up and running.

"Get people home, get them to quarantine safely and fix this problem," Mr Albanese said.

"This is a tragedy for people who are stranded overseas. It's also a tragedy for people here who want to see their loved ones."

© AAP 2021

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121483302@N02/14529051871 (free image)

An earthquake has struck Victoria and the tremors were felt across Melbourne and as far away as Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide.

The magnitude 5.8 quake was 10km deep and centred at Mansfield, a small town on the foothills of Victoria's alps, at around 9.15am on Wednesday, according to Geoscience Australia.

A magnitude 6.0 #Earthquake has occurred with an epicentre near Mansfield in Victoria. Widespread felt reports. If you have building damage or require SES assistance, phone 132500 and please be patient as lines may be busy. pic.twitter.com/8RUqnk4Iwb

— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) September 21, 2021

A second quake registered at magnitude 4 on the Richter scale followed, also at Mansfield, about 15 minutes later.

Victorians took to social media to report they had felt the quake.

Houses in Melbourne shook and movement was felt in Geelong and even at Canberra's Parliament House, Sydney's CBD, northern Tasmania and parts of Adelaide and other areas in South Australia.

Victoria's State Emergency Service confirmed to AAP the earthquake "emanated from Mansfield. There is no tsunami threat".

The SES is receiving calls for assistance from across the state and is yet to make an assessment of any damage.

There are reports of damage in Prahran, Brunswick, West Melbourne and Albert Park and to the exterior of Betty's Burgers on Chapel Street in Windsor.

No one was inside Betty's Burgers but a tenant was upstairs in the same building when the earthquake hit, restaurant managing director Troy McDonagh told AAP.

"We're out for months, it's structural, it looks like the top's come away, we need to get engineers in to assess it and then the works will need to be completed," he said.

Lynne Myers of High County Apparel in Mansfield told AAP "it just scared the hell out of us."

"Everything shook, the roof shook, boots fell off the shelf and I just ran outside," she said.

"There's no cracks or anything in the walls. We seem to have got over it pretty well. Everyone's a bit shaken up here but there doesn't seem to be any damage.

"I've lived here 29 years and have never felt anything like it."

Craig Luelf from the All Seasons Mansfield resort said he was outside the town's hospital when he felt "waves of the ground moving."

"It was quite scary. At first, I thought the car was having a few issues and then realised all of a sudden that everything was moving," he told AAP.

"My father's neighbour is at the top of a hill and he could see the waves of the ground moving up the hill.

"Other than that, it's just having fun trying to avoid the COVID getting around."

Tremors were also felt as far away as the NSW central coast, nearly 1000km from Melbourne.

Building movement was reported in Sydney's CBD, and people at home in some suburbs of Sydney took to social media to say they had felt the quake.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is currently in Washington DC, said he had spoken by text with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews following the earthquake.

"It can be a very, very disturbing event for an earthquake of this nature," he told reporters.

"They are very rare events in Australia and as a result, I am sure people would have been quite depressed and disturbed by that, particularly in the most immediate area affected."

Any federal response to the emergency will be handled by Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.

The earthquake was originally recorded as a magnitude 6 but was later downgraded to 5.8 on the Richter scale.

There are no reports of damage in the other states.

© AAP 2021