Returning Aussies will be allowed to leave hotel quarantine on November 1

Returning Australians whose 14-day quarantine period ends after November 1 can walk out of the hotel on that day, an official has confirmed.

That means fully vaccinated travellers returning on October 31, for example, would only have to do a single day of hotel quarantine.

A NSW government spokeswoman also confirmed the travellers would only have to pay for the days they actually spent in hotel quarantine.

“Anyone who is double vaccinated will be free to leave quarantine on November 1 and will only pay for the duration of their stay,” the spokeswoman told NCA NewsWire.

A single traveller doing a fortnight’s quarantine in Sydney is currently charged $3000, with each day costing about $214.

The clarification comes as Australians adjust to the surprising news on Friday that the requirement for international arrivals in NSW will be scrapped from November 1.

“There is absolutely no reason, if you are fully vaccinated … that you should have to hotel quarantine,” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters.

Mr Perrottet said even tourists would be allowed to take advantage of a quarantine-free reopening, but those hopes were dashed by the Prime Minister hours later.

“We are not opening up to everyone coming back to Australia at the moment. I want to be clear about that,” Scott Morrison said.

“It is for the Commonwealth and federal government to decide when the border opens and shut at an international level, and we will do that.

“In the first instance, it will be for Australian residents and their families. We will see how that goes.”

Mr Morrison also warned returning Australians who lived in states and territories other than NSW - which is leading the double-dose jab race to 80 per cent - that arrival caps would still apply.

“We will be allowing Australians, permanent residents and citizens and their families, to leave Australia from wherever they live in Australia and return but obviously the capped arrangements in other states will continue because of the vaccination levels in those states and territories,” he said.

“To return to Australia, obviously they’d have to do that through Sydney or under the capped arrangements in other states and territories.”

Asked if he would suggest other states abandon home quarantine trials, Mr Morrison replied: “No, I think each state and territory will make their judgments about that”.