Victorian Minister for Sport Martin Pakula announced a daily crowd capacity of 30,000 for the start of the Grand Slam during a press conference in Melbourne. 

This will be reduced to 25,000 per day from the quarter-final stage. 

A total of 390,000 people are set to attend over the course of the tournament, scheduled for February 8 to 21. 

This will be around half the average attendance of past years. 

"That means on Rod Laver Arena, as we get to the end of the tournament, we'll have an incredible atmosphere, not that different to the atmosphere we've seen in all the opens in years past," Pakula said. 

"It will not be the same as the last few years, but it will be the most significant international event with crowds that the world has seen for many, many months."

The announcement came as many players began exiting the two-week period of strict quarantine they had entered upon arrival in Australia. 

A total of 72 had to undergo the strict period of isolation - unable t leave their hotel rooms to train - after flying into the country on planes where positive COVID-19 cases were later identified.

Those unaffected were allowed out of their rooms for five hours a day to train under the original quarantine protocol.

Among those to celebrate leaving quarantine on social media were Britain's Heather Watson and Johanna Konta, and Italy's Fabio Fognini. 

Watson shared a video of herself practicing at the Rod Laver Arena at midnight. 

Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley revealed players who had been in strict isolation would receive priority access to training facilities, and claimed the nine-day period until the start of competition would be enough time to adequately prepare. 

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has already organised a tournament for the female players who were in the strict quarantine to give them some playing time ahead of the Australian Open.

The event will be staged alongside five other warm-up tournaments, including two WTA 500 events, two Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 250 events and the ATP Cup.  

Calls had been made for the tournament to be pushed back again, but this was rejected by organisers. 

"That period of time, while it may in an athlete's mind not be perfectly ideal, it is enough of a period of time to get as ready as you possibly can be," Tiley said, according to ABC.

"But it would be no different to inclement weather stopping training or to someone being a bit sick and having to take a few days out."

"So they're going to have priority on schedule, priority on practice courts, priority on use of physiotherapists, use of the training rooms."

Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Sofia Kenin of the United States are set to defend the men's and women's titles, respectively.