Preparations are under way to use a mining camp near Darwin to quarantine Australian citizens and permanent residents evacuated from coronavirus-hit Wuhan.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government had been advised the Christmas Island facility could not properly segregate the next group of people being evacuated from Wuhan.
"With that advice we will be moving to the contingency plans for overflow," Mr Morrison told reporters in Townsville on Friday.
The advice was given by the chief medical officer to a national security committee of cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Mr Morrison said he had spoken with the Northern Territory's Chief Minister Michael Gunner.
"We will before using a mining camp facility in the Northern Territory near Darwin and we are working through the consultation phase with the local community and others about the implementation of those arrangements," he said.
"My advice is that is progressing extremely well and we will be able to continue to go down the path of the planning for the second assisted departure flight."
The evacuees will be held in the Manigurr-ma Village at Howard Springs, 30km southeast of Darwin. The complex was built in 2012 by Japanese energy firm Inpex as accommodation for its workers and at its peak housed 3,500 workers.
Earlier, Mr Gunner said he had been guaranteed there would be no health risk to the general public.
"There will be no confirmed cases of the virus amongst the evacuees," he said.
"They are not sick. They will be isolated at the site purely as a precaution only."
