Australia has recorded another 30 COVID-19-related deaths as calls mount for a royal commission into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NSW reported eight fatalities, nine people died in Queensland, six in South Australia, four in Victoria and one in Tasmania on Friday.
Western Australia recorded two historical deaths dating back to Monday.
There were 20,396 COVID-19 cases in NSW - a drop of almost 2,000 from Thursday when the state reported 22,255 new infections.
The state recorded 1,435 hospitalisations, with 44 people in intensive care.
Victoria recorded 11,192 new coronavirus infections. Some 335 people with the virus are hospitalised in Victoria, including 12 in intensive care.
In Queensland, 10,092 people tested positive for COVID-19, while 479 are hospitalised. There are 15 people in intensive care.
There are 6,892 people in Western Australia who tested positive for the virus. The state recorded that 243 people are in hospital, six of those in intensive care.
In South Australia, 5,666 people contracted COVID-19, with 202 of those in hospital and 11 in intensive care.
In Tasmania, 1,885 cases have been reported, with 41 people in hospital and one in intensive care.
And the Northern Territory recorded 536 COVID-19 cases, 28 being in hospital and one in intensive care.
The figures come as Australia is urged by a Senate inquiry to establish a royal commission examining the country's COVID-19 response.
The report made 19 recommendations. Among them was for Australia to establish its own Centre for Disease Control, as well as greater transparency for health bodies such as the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.
The government would also be required to report to parliament every two years on how prepared it was to handle future pandemics.
The Senate inquiry's chair, Labor's Katy Gallagher, said the recommendations were crucial in the lead up to the coming winter, with health officials warning of a spike in cases.
"It is imperative that the next Australian government learns the lessons from the failures over the past two years so that when the next pandemic or health crisis comes, Australia is better prepared," she said.
"The report importantly highlights the fact that the winter months ahead will be a major test for our nation's living with COVID strategy."
The inquiry, which was set up in the early stages of the pandemic, handed down its final report on Thursday after more than two years and dozens of hearings.
While the inquiry was lengthy in its examination of the country's COVID-19 response, Senator Gallagher said a royal commission would be able to go further and compel people to provide more information.
"This report can be an important building block or a resource for a royal commission," she said.
"A royal commission is required partly because we've spent hundreds of billions of dollars ... in economic responses, and over $40 billion in our health response."
The senator also accused the government of not being open and transparent with information to the committee as hearings continued during its two-year course.
However, the committee's deputy chairman Liberal senator James Paterson said it eventually became a vehicle for partisan attacks on the government's handling of the pandemic.
"The Morrison government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, guided by the medical experts, has delivered one of the lowest rates of loss of life and one of the strongest economic recoveries in the world," he said in the report.
"Our response to the pandemic has followed a uniquely Australian path, getting the balance right between our health and economic objectives."
