COVID-19 restrictions are winding down and as of Friday anyone who tests positive will no longer be required to isolate.
It is one of the last COVID rules to be scrapped following two years of restrictions lead by health advice.
Masks, too, seem to be being left behind. They were once mandatory in public places but, as the rules have loosened, fewer people chose to wear one.
So what does that mean for people who are still masking up? Are you still protected if others aren't wearing one?
Here's what you need to know:
Do I still have to wear a mask?
In some places, yes. Across the country, masks are still required in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
This rule applies to anyone aged over 12 except in Victoria, where it applies to anyone older than 8.
Masks are also required in indoor areas for anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 or is a close contact, with the exception of your own home.
In most states, masks are also required in correctional facilities and justice centres.
However, mask-wearing is still encouraged by the states on public transport, in settings where you can't physically distance and when around people who may be vulnerable to COVID-19.
Will wearing a mask stop you getting COVID if no-one else is wearing one?
Wearing a mask will provide some protection, but is unlikely to be completely effective, explains the head of epidemiological modelling at Monash University's School of Public Health, James Trauer.
"It is also quite dependent on how the mask is worn and many other factors, such as the amount of COVID around in the community and the setting you visit," he says.
He says wearing a mask is still considerably better than nothing.
"However, it is likely that the greatest effect is when the infector [the person with COVID] is wearing one," he says.
"This is because wearing any sort of mask should markedly reduce the number of larger droplets they expel.
"This is one of the strongest justifications for requiring everyone in the population to wear a mask — particularly indoors where most transmission occurs."
He says in Victoria, multiple investigators were able to show a considerable reduction in transmission when the state mandated face coverings in most settings in July 2020.
"We likely saw that effect because even people who didn't have symptoms and so didn't know they had COVID were still wearing masks and so reducing their risk of transmitting infection to others," he says.
"A review of population-wide studies found that if everyone in the population wears a mask, the overall infectiousness of COVID can be reduced by about 15-20 per cent."
Deakin University Professor and Chair in Epidemiology at the School of Health and Social Development Dr Catherine Bennett agrees there's evidence which proves masks reduce COVID transmission rates.
"A US study of close contacts of cases from a year ago found the infection rate in contacts was about 26 per cent if the infected person, their contact, or both were unmasked, but dropped to about 13 per cent if both were masked," she says.
"However, a large population-based study in the UK when Omicron had taken over [in February 2022] did not find a difference in infection rates based on whether masks were worn indoors always, or less frequently.
"But this can also be complicated as those wearing masks might do that because they are at higher risk anyway, and might have had even higher rates of infection without them.
"So the advice remains that wearing masks is still a useful way to reduce your risk of picking up or spreading the virus."
What's the science of mask-wearing?
COVID is primarily transmitted by the respiratory route, meaning that breathing, coughing, speaking, laughing and singing can create particles that contain the virus, Professor Trauer says.
"We divide respiratory transmission into transmission with larger and smaller particles.
"Larger particles are called droplets, whereas smaller ones (called aerosols) can travel longer distances because they can be suspended in air.
"In reality, there is no definite cut-off between these two processes, and both are likely important.
"In 2020, many policy makers and experts were too slow to recognise the importance of the smaller particles.
"We now have several lines of evidence to indicate that the smaller particles are important, even though it's impossible to define this exactly."
Dr Bennett says the finer the mask fibre and the better the fit, the better the mask works.
"This is why N95 mask are recommended as they can even filter very small aerosol particles," she says.
"Any mask that doesn't fit properly doesn't offer as good level of protection, the air can still pass between the mask and your skin, and fewer virus particles will be filtered out."
What are the different types of masks and which are the best ones?
Dr Bennett says N-95 or P2 masks are the best protection if worn correctly, however they can be hard to fit and less comfortable.
"Surgical masks are the next preference, but again, the less gap around the edges, the better," she says.
"Cloth masks are the least effective, but better than nothing, and one of these that fits your face well over a surgical mask can help the surgical mask to work better."
However, Professor Trauer says no mask is completely effective protection because breathing isn't the only means of transmission.
"It is probably possible to transmit the COVID virus through objects ("fomites") and other mucosal surfaces (such as the surface of the eyes)," he says.
"To get close to fully protected, you would ideally wear eye protection, a respiratory mask, be careful with hand hygiene and avoid high-risk settings."
What are the experts doing with their own masks?
Both experts still wear mask where required.
"I am now only wearing a mask in healthcare and aged care settings, for the reasons given above," Professor Trauer says.
"I kept my mask wearing up a bit longer than most because I wanted to make sure I was practising what I was preaching."
Dr Bennett says she still wears N95 masks for more protracted exposure times such as on planes or public transport, and wears a surgical mask in busy indoors settings.
"I'll often wear the mask as I walk into a shop or venue then decide whether I need to keep it on depending on the number of people, the size of place and ceiling height, and the airflow," Dr Bennett says.
"If small and stuffy, I'll keep my mask on even if there are not many people around.
"I haven't had COVID, so it's working for me so far."
