The WA Government will meet today to consider new health advice from the state's Chief Health Officer as pressure mounts for it to announce when the state's hard border will be lifted.
The State Government confirmed it had received updated advice on Thursday which would be tabled at the State Disaster Council meeting on Friday.
But a Government spokesman did not say when the advice would be made public.
"This advice is Cabinet-in-confidence, and the decision to publicly release it must be made by the WA Government," the spokesman said.
Last week Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that all states and territories, excluding Western Australia, had resolved to remove all domestic borders by Christmas.
But WA Premier Mark McGowan has repeatedly said he would continue to take the advice of the state's Chief Health Officer, Andy Robertson, on the state's border policy, which has been in place since April.
The McGowan Government's position is there has to be 28 consecutive days of no community spread of the virus anywhere in the nation before the border can be opened, saying opening to some states and not others would be unconstitutional.
In his most recent advice, dated October 14, Dr Robertson said the trend in case numbers in Victoria should be reviewed in 4 weeks, "and if cases have fallen to less than 5 cases per day over a five-day average, the exemptions currently in place for other jurisdictions should be considered".
The 14-day rolling average for Melbourne is now 2.4 and for regional Victoria it is zero.
Advice considered at disaster council meeting
WA Education Minister Sue Ellery said she would not speculate on what the new health advice might mean for the state's hard border.
"We will consider that advice at the disaster council meeting," she said.
"I have not seen it so I cannot comment on where it sits right now.
"Obviously events across the rest of Australia will inform that advice.
"Government will consider that advice and make any decisions that are appropriate."
3,000 applications per day, Commissioner says
On Wednesday advocacy organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) joined growing calls for Western Australia's hard border to be softened, suggesting the current system prioritised people returning for work over those with mental health concerns.
Police Commissioner Chris Dawson told Radio 6PR the police received about 3,000 applications per day to enter the state.
He also said there had been more than 1,500 formal complaints made by people trying to enter the state.
"There's no doubt that people have had, and continue to have, genuine reasons as to why they want to come," he said.
"But if someone simply says 'look I've got mental anguish because I'm separated from family', that won't necessarily fill the criteria that we have to apply.
"If it's supported by a medical practitioner who says: 'look, this person is genuinely ill', then that will get them to the front of the queue quicker than someone just saying 'I'm feeling anxious'.
"That sounds harsh but my officers have to make a judgement call and make it in a justified way."
