The northern beaches cluster hit 104 cases on Thursday after seven infections.
However, a three-day rules reprieve means even those in that area can host family and friends for Friday's festivities.
Residents north of the Narrabeen Bridge can welcome five people from the local area, while those in the south will be able to have 10 visitors from anywhere.
The same cap applies to Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong.
For the rest of NSW, 50 people may visit another household at any one time.
Victorians starved of family reunions for much of their lockdown-plagued year have been able to host up to 30 visitors over the course of a single day since December 14.
South Australia and Queensland both allow 50 people to congregate in homes, while Tasmania's limit is double that for outdoor and indoor residential gatherings.
Western Australia, the ACT and Northern Territory are cap-free, but 1.5-metre social distancing must be maintained in house settings.
While many tuck into lunch and dinner, thousands of others have been forced into spending Christmas in hotel quarantine or home isolating across the country.
That includes two people linked to the northern beaches cluster who have tested positive since arriving in Queensland and South Australia.
A Queensland man in his 40s tested negative after getting back from Sydney on Friday, but he later became unwell and tested positive on Wednesday night.
He has been in self-isolation at his home in the southeast since returning and has had no contact with the community.
One of South Australia's two new cases on Thursday was a young man who flew on a Darwin to Sydney flight with an infected Qantas worker.
He sat some distance away from the staffer and health authorities say it's likely the man's "weak positive" test result is an old non-infectious case.
