Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley has promised to take up calls for on-farm quarantine for Pacific Islander seasonal workers with the relevant health authorities.
Mr Foley was responding to a suggestion, by Shepparton Independent MP Suzanna Sheed, to shorten the 14-day quarantine period by allowing workers to say on farms.
She asked if Mr Foley would take the matter up with Department of Health authorities, who were managing quarantine protocols.
"What we have now is some 3000 workers in the system, supporting Victoria's farmers across those two tranches of Solomon Islander workers," Mr Foley said.
"In regard to the transition from 14-day hotel quarantine to alternative arrangements based on that risk matrix, I will undertake to make the representations (Ms Sheed) has requested.
"As Victoria, and indeed the country, moves along the process of a highly vaccinated community, we are increasingly able to decouple the restrictions and the quarantine arrangements from the relatively strict 14-day hotel quarantine system to a more nuanced, risk-based system based on where individuals are coming from and their vaccination status in doing so."
Mr Foley said the on-farm quarantine suggestion had been under "active consideration" by Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas.
A spokeswoman for Mr Foley confirmed the government's public health experts were considering changes to isolation and quarantine protocols, as Victoria moved towards 80 per cent double dose and beyond.
In state parliament, Ms Sheed called on Mr Foley to advocate to the Chief Health Officer to allow on-farm quarantine.
While there was a quarantine facility set up in Tasmania for Pacific Islander workers, the cost to the Victorian Government and farmers was significant.
"I have had discussions with several orchardists, including Silver Orchards owners Rien and Maurice Silverstein, who will be employing Samoan workers in the coming weeks here in the Goulburn Valley," Ms Sheed said.
Mrs Silverstein said that instead of undergoing hotel quarantine in Tasmania, the fully vaccinated workers could quarantine at the farm, away from other workers for 14 days, and have their groceries delivered by family members.
"We have the accommodation capacity in three separate farmhouse buildings for seven workers and have a permanent employee who could collect our workers from the airport and bring them directly to the farm in a vehicle exclusively for this purpose," she said.
Ms Sheed said as Victoria moved towards the 70 per cent double vaccinated rate, with an imminent easing of restrictions and with home quarantine under discussion, it led to the consideration of on-farm quarantine to be adopted in appropriate settings.