Andrew Barr said there was still a role for government in managing restrictions and public health advice, but there had been a shift to personal responsibility.

"People do not need to be wearing masks when they are walking outside by themselves, nowhere near other people. Given that in order to consume food and beverage, you need to take a mask off in a hospitality venue for example, you've got to weigh up the effectiveness. Mandates actually have to deliver an outcome," Mr Barr said.

Speaking on ABC radio, the Chief Minister said he would raise the issue of public health campaigns on the issue of masks with chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman and her public health team.

"There remain obviously areas where it is compulsory or mandatory and others where we are asking people to use their judgement in that regard. My observed evidence of this is that people who are most concerned are certainly continuing to wear masks in a variety of settings. It is a difficult one," he said.

Mr Barr said there was no point to introducing a mask mandate if it was not going to make a difference.

"There are certain circumstances clearly where common sense kicks in and I think if we've learned anything over the last couple of years is that people need to take greater personal responsibility as well for their own - in terms of their own health and what they bring into the world and their interaction with others," he said.

In the regular radio spot, Mr Barr also said there needed to be a pathway back to a 50-50 split on health funding between states and territories and the Commonwealth under the newly elected federal Labor government.

There needed to be an extension of the special agreement on COVID-19 health funding arrangements, given the ongoing impact of the pandemic, he said.

MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:

Mr Barr said he was encouraged by early responses from the federal government on the issue of waiving the ACT's Commonwealth housing debt.

The issue of the debt had been a subject of debate in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, when Greens backbencher Johnathan Davis brought on a debate to get the government to reaffirm its longstanding commitment to reinvest the money saved from a debt waiver in public housing.

Mr Barr on Friday said the ACT would seek to position its request for a debt waiver in line with the federal government's stated public housing policies, and point out more money could be invested in housing if the debt was waived.

Meanwhile, Mr Barr said ACT residents could expect to hear some "very good news" in the not too distant future on electricity prices, after suggesting locked-in contracts for renewable energy in the territory would protect residents from bill shock.

Wholesale electricity prices in the Australian energy market have continued to rise, and were double what they were a year ago.

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