CANBERRA, March 30 -- Australia has followed in the footsteps of other major nations, announcing it will be mandatory for its airlines to now have two people in the cockpit of commercial flights at all times.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said on Monday that the rules would apply to all domestic and international services operated by Australian carriers, on airplanes with more than 50 seats.

Both Canada and New Zealand have recently enacted laws which make it compulsory for two crew members to be present in a cockpit. Other airlines around the world have started to change company policies to the same effect.

Previously, neither Qantas nor Virgin Australia -- Australia's two biggest airlines -- had a two-crew member policy in effect, but Truss said that after consultation with Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar and Tigerair, the decision to create a new rule was logical.

"Australia will move immediately to adjust their flight operation procedures to ensure that there are always two people on the flight deck," he said at a press conference on Monday.

"The airlines will be acting immediately to implement this change and we'd expect to see this policy in place within hours on our major airlines.

"We certainly need to be sure that we're taking every possible step to make sure there isn't an incident of this nature in Australia and that global aviation is as safe as possible."

The government said it would continue to work with the airlines about crew's health, but stopped short of flagging changes to the current procedures for the mental health checks of pilots and crews.

"Australian pilots are subject to annual medical reviews and that includes a psychiatric assessment. If at any time there are concerns about the mental health of any pilot or co-pilot there are procedures in place to ensure that there is a medical intervention and those people are not placed in command of aircraft," Truss said.

The announcement comes as a result of the Germanwings disaster last week, when it has been alleged that the co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cockpit, then deliberately flew the plane into mountainous terrain in southern France, killing all 150 passengers and crew.