Lizzie O'Shea among last Australians stranded overseas to arrive before Christmas

After three years in the United Kingdom working in management consulting, the expat touched down in Sydney via Auckland and Hong Kong on November 30.

When the Western Australian resident finishes her hotel quarantine in NSW on Monday a friend will be waiting to bring her to Canberra for Christmas.

Having spent lockdown in London in a sharehouse with four others, the 28-year-old was looking forward to a swim in a pool, a bushwalk and "anything outdoors".

Until two weeks ago, Ms O'Shea was one of more than 38,600 Australians anticipating a festive season abroad, despite more than 26,200 registering to come home in September.

Ms O'Shea said compared to those she's connected with through Facebook groups who've had up to eight flights cancelled, having just one rescheduled was fortunate.

Increasingly, Australians overseas were turning to one another for advice to fill the government's shortcomings, she said.

Group discussions included which airlines were less likely to overbook their flights and subsequently cancel (Air New Zealand) and which travel agents were most worth the fees.

On home soil, returned travellers have set up self-quarantine groups gifting microwaves, toasted sandwich presses and coffee machines they've outgrown inside their hotel rooms.

Ms O'Shea said things were "really bad" in the UK and Heathrow Airport had felt a little too business-as-usual.

However, after sharing a fully-booked flight with Hong Kong students returning home, Ms O'Shea said her fellow passengers had behaved reassuringly.

Precautions onboard included full-body protective equipment, plastic ponchos, face shields and goggles on top of masks.

Her seat-row buddies had even waited until she finished eating before removing their masks to eat.

"It was a really weird experience, we got temperature-checked after we did the boarding pass bit but I didn't need a COVID test to fly," she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the final national cabinet meeting for the year on Friday the Australian government would continue to monitor overseas residents' need to return home through direct contact with them.

Mr Morrison said priorities may change as vaccines were introduced, particularly in the UK, which was one of the key areas where Australians were seeking to come home from.

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"The biggest number of people seeking to come home is from India," Mr Morrison said.

"There are over 10,000 there. There is about 5000 in the UK."

Ms O'Shea said hard lockdown in London prepared her for Grand Hyatt quarantining in Sydney.

"I'm just so relieved and excited to be back and finally have some certainty because this whole year has just been like an endless grey soup," she said.