Given the current requirements for Australians to avoid non-essential travel and remain home whenever and wherever possible, the COVIDsafe app won't see most of us travel too far for the foreseeable future.

And the potential to come into casual contact with another person who has COVID-19 should therefore be extremely limited.

The potential to come into close contact with an infected person, for a period of 15 minutes or more, are even more limited.

But if of us do - early detection could reduce any further impact upon those we come into contact with, and help avoid any future spike in the pandemic curve.

We also need to acknowledge there are other apps and platforms embedded in most of our phones that already gather otherwise personal information on us all.

Think Facebook and Google for a start.

To anyone unsure about whether they should download this app, please don't let hearsay or half-truths be the basis for making the decision as to whether or not you do get involved. Make your decision an informed one, please.

And to the government and other health organisations pushing us all to accept this app, we expect you to manage the responsibility and protocols associated with this initiative with the utmost respect and integrity.

We need to balance the perceived loss of privacy that comes from allowing our phones to track us and help in the early detection of potential exposure to the coronavirus against the reality that a range of restrictions will most likely remain in place for much longer if a sufficient number of us don't take up the app and help hasten any further spread of the virus.

We also need to respect the rights of people to not participate in this project, just as much as we say thank you to those who do.