More people will be allowed to gather indoors and outdoors while weddings and funerals can double in size as part of the revised NSW roadmap out of COVID-19 restrictions.
It comes as NSW records 587 new local COVID-19 cases and eight deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday.
The deaths include a man in his 20s as well as one person in their 50s, two in their 60s, two in their 70s and two in their 80s.
It takes the toll for the outbreak to 403.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet met with the crisis cabinet late on Wednesday to tweak the roadmap as the state prepares to emerge from months of lockdown on Monday.
The state reached the 70 per cent double-dose vaccination milestone on Wednesday - one day after Mr Perrottet assumed the top job and the same day Paul Toole became deputy premier.
"We need to open up. We need to open up safely, and that is why we have made the decisions we have," the premier told reporters on Thursday.
As part of the new plans, indoor gatherings will from Monday be capped at 10 people, not counting children under 12. Outdoor gatherings will be lifted to 30 people.
For weddings and funerals, 100 people can attend.
NSW indoor swimming pools will also be able to open for swimming lessons, training and rehabilitation activities.
Restrictions will ease further when 80 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated, with that milestone expected around October 25.
That's when 3000 people will be allowed at controlled and ticketed outdoor events and nightclubs can re-open but without dancing.
Masks won't be required in offices, in an attempt to encourage workers back to the CBD.
These freedoms will apply only for the fully vaccinated until December 1, when freedoms will be restored for the unvaccinated.
Meanwhile, all school students will return to on-site learning by October 25, a week sooner than the prior plan. Kindergarten, Year One and Year 12 students return on October 18.
"We've always said vaccination is the key to our freedom and the sacrifices and the effort of people right across NSW have ensured that we can open up as quickly and safely as possible," Mr Perrottet said.
"This is not just a health crisis, it's an economic crisis.
"The system we have in place is based on the vaccination rates as it has to be, because we want to open up in a measured and safe way."
Greater Sydney will emerge from 15 weeks of lockdown on Monday when gyms, cafes, restaurants, shops, hairdressers and beauticians will reopen and people will be allowed to venture more than five kilometres from home.
But NSW Labor says businesses owners are confused about their responsibilities.
Opposition Leader Chris Minns told reporters rules and procedures for business owners remained opaque.
He also reiterated concerns the Service NSW vaccination passport would not be ready by Monday.
In the meantime, NSW residents have been told to use the Medicare app to show proof of vaccination.
"If businesses open, what they will say to unvaccinated people who come into their place of business? What procedure will there be for their staff, their customers?" Mr Minns said.
"These procedures should have been in place before today.
"I do not believe the opposition is nitpicking when we raise these concerns because we want this to be a success, the economy is dependent on it."
Meanwhile, lockdown will be extended until Monday for a number of areas in regional NSW including Oberon, Snowy Monaro and Menindee and Sunset Strip.
There are 911 COVID-19 patients in hospital in NSW, with 181 in intensive care units and 85 on ventilators.
Mr Perrottet said he would be calling other premiers on Thursday, with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk a priority.
Well, obviously, I want the border opened as quickly as possible," he said.
