PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA Public Accounts and Estimates Committee Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic Parliament of Victoria Public Accounts and Estimates Committee Ordered to be published VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER February 2021 PP No 203, Session 2018-2021 ISBN 978 1 922425 18 8 (print version), 978 1 922425 19 5 (PDF version) Committee membership CHAIR DEPUTY CHAIR Lizzie Blandthorn Richard Riordan Sam Hibbins David Limbrick Pascoe Vale Polwarth Prahran South Eastern Metropolitan Gary Maas Danny O’Brien Pauline Richards Tim Richardson Narre Warren South Gippsland South Cranbourne Mordialloc Ingrid Stitt Nina Taylor Bridget Vallence Western Metropolitan Southern Metropolitan Evelyn PAEC member until PAEC member from 13 October 2020 14 October 2020 ii Public Accounts and Estimates Committee About the Committee Functions The Public Accounts and Estimates Committee is a joint parliamentary committee constituted under the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 (the Act). The Committee comprises ten members of Parliament drawn from both Houses of Parliament. The Committee carries out investigations and reports to Parliament on matters associated with the financial management of the State. Its functions under the Act are to inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament on: • any proposal, matter or thing concerned with public administration or public sector finances • the annual estimates or receipts and payments and other Budget papers and any supplementary estimates of receipts or payments presented to the Assembly and the Council • audit priorities for the purposes of the Audit Act 1994. The Committee also has a number of statutory responsibilities in relation to the Office of the Auditor-General and Parliamentary Budget Office. Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic iii About the Committee Secretariat Dr Caroline Williams, Executive Officer Janithri Wickramaratne, Lead Analyst, Budget Estimates and Outcomes Iain Gately, Lead Analyst, Public Accounts and Audit Igor Dosen, Analyst, Budget Estimates and Outcomes Dr Krystle Gatt Rapa, Analyst, Public Accounts and Audit Charlotte Lever, Analyst, Budget Estimates and Outcomes Lucas Grainger-Brown, Research Assistant (commenced 19 November 2020) Dr Jayne Rantall, Research Assistant (commenced 26 November 2020) Amy Mackintosh, Research Assistant (25 June 2020 to 28 August 2020) Jacqueline Coleman, Administration Officer Contact details Address Public Accounts and Estimates Committee Parliament of Victoria Spring Street EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002 Phone 61 3 8682 2867 Email [email protected] Web https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/paec This report is available on the Committee’s website. iv Public Accounts and Estimates Committee Contents Preliminaries Committee membership ii About the Committee iii Terms of reference xi Chair’s foreword xiii Executive summary xv Findings and recommendations xxiii Acronyms xlviii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Scope of the inquiry 2 1.3 Significant developments since the interim report of the inquiry 3 1.3.1 Progression of the pandemic 3 1.3.2 State of disaster 4 1.4 The inquiry process 4 1.5 Report structure 5 2 Managing the health pandemic 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Victoria’s second wave 7 2.3 Pandemic preparedness 9 2.4 Governance 11 2.5 The Victorian Government’s aggressive suppression strategy and modelling 15 2.5.1 Aggressive suppression strategy 15 2.5.2 Modelling and restrictions 16 2.6 Testing, tracing and isolating 23 2.6.1 Enhancing Victoria’s testing capability 23 2.6.2 Benchmarks and outcomes—testing 24 2.6.3 Genomic sequencing 26 2.6.4 Contact tracing benchmarks 26 2.6.5 Recent developments—High Risk Industry testing 32 2.6.6 Contact tracing workforce 32 2.6.7 Outbreaks 36 2.7 Cedar Meats 37 Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic v Contents 3 Health system, aged care and mental health 39 3.1 Introduction 39 3.2 Health system 39 3.2.1 Hospital infrastructure 39 3.2.2 Communication and messaging 41 3.2.3 Data 45 3.3 Healthcare workforce 47 3.3.1 Infection control among health workers 48 3.3.2 Workforce capacity 58 3.4 Aged care 59 3.4.1 Governance 60 3.4.2 Preparation 62 3.4.3 Public sector support 64 3.4.4 Workforce 65 3.4.5 Palliative care 67 3.5 Mental health 67 3.5.1 Funding for mental health 68 3.5.2 Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on mental health 69 4 Victoria’s economic response 73 4.1 Introduction 73 4.2 Economic impacts of COVID‑19 73 4.2.1 Stage 4 restrictions 73 4.2.2 Current economic indicators 74 4.2.3 Employment 81 4.3 Fiscal response and aggregates 91 4.3.1 An ongoing response 93 4.3.2 Effectiveness of the response 97 4.3.3 Revenue 98 4.3.4 Debt 99 4.4 Recovery 100 4.4.1 The Victorian Government’s strategy 100 4.4.2 The need for targeted measures and further Commonwealth support 100 5 Victoria’s economic response: a jurisdictional comparison 103 5.1 Introduction 103 5.2 Containment policies and economic growth 103 5.3 Peer jurisdictions 106 5.3.1 Responses and outcomes 108 vi Public Accounts and Estimates Committee Contents 6 Jobs and industry 115 6.1 Introduction 115 6.2 The introduction of Stage 4 restrictions 115 6.2.1 Infection rates in workplaces and subsequent limitations 115 6.2.2 Workplace safety—WorkSafe Victoria 118 6.2.3 Permitted Work Premises and Permitted Workers 121 6.3 The impacts of COVID‑19 on industry by sector 122 6.3.1 Number of payroll jobs lost in the Victorian economy 122 6.3.2 Arts industry 125 6.3.3 Agriculture industry 126 6.3.4 Construction industry 128 6.3.5 Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on casualised workforces 130 6.4 Melbourne Central Business District 133 6.5 COVID‑19 response—Government initiatives for jobs and industry 136 7 Transport and infrastructure 137 7.1 Introduction 137 7.2 Building Victoria’s Recovery Taskforce 137 7.3 Big Build under Stage 4 restrictions 140 7.4 Impact on the public transport network—Stage 4 restrictions 143 7.4.1 Preventative measures on the public transport network 145 7.4.2 COVIDSafe travel on the public transport network from 20 November 2020 147 7.5 Walking and cycling infrastructure 147 7.6 Commercial passenger vehicle industry 149 7.7 Licence testing 150 7.8 School infrastructure 151 8 Response to the social impacts of the pandemic and associated restrictions 153 8.1 Introduction 153 8.2 Residential tenancies 154 8.2.1 Access to rental tenancy support 155 8.3 Community services sector 158 8.3.1 Government support to the sector 158 8.3.2 Community services sector workforce 159 8.3.3 Increase in demand for services 162 8.4 Family violence 164 8.4.1 Incidence of family violence and Operation Ribbon 164 8.4.2 Support for family violence services 167 8.4.3 Access to adequate crisis accommodation and housing 168 Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic vii Contents 8.4.4 Service adaptation 169 8.4.5 Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisations and specialist family violence services 170 8.4.6 Funding for perpetrator services 171 8.5 Homelessness 172 8.5.1 Emergency accommodation 172 8.5.2 Homelessness amongst the Aboriginal community 177 8.6 Culturally and linguistically diverse communities 178 8.6.1 Impact of Victoria’s second wave 179 8.6.2 Temporary visa holders, asylum seekers and refugees 182 8.7 Public housing lockdown 184 8.7.1 Management of the lockdown 186 8.7.2 Role of community leaders and community organisations 193 8.7.3 Infection control in public and high density housing 194 8.8 Aboriginal Victorians 195 8.8.1 Role of Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisations 196 8.8.2 Government partnerships and initiatives 198 9 Education 205 9.1 Introduction 205 9.2 Remote and flexible learning requirements 205 9.3 Schools 212 9.3.1 Student attendance 212 9.3.2 Preventative measures, confirmed cases and school closures 213 9.3.3 Contact tracing governance and outcomes 215 9.3.4 Return to remote and flexible learning 216 9.3.5 Digital access 217 9.3.6 Assessing education outcomes 219 9.3.7 Victorian Certificate of Education and Certificate of Applied Learning 223 9.3.8 Student mental health and wellbeing 225 9.3.9 Teaching practice 227 9.4 Students with a disability 229 9.4.1 Access to onsite schooling 229 9.4.2 School attendance levels 230 9.4.3 Support provided 231 9.4.4 Mental health impacts in specialist settings 233 9.5 Early childhood education and care 234 9.5.1 Australian Health Protection Principal Committee directions 234 9.5.2 Commonwealth Government support packages 235 9.5.3 Victorian Government support for kindergarten services 236 9.5.4 Preventative measures, confirmed cases and service closures 238 9.5.5 Early childhood education and care workforce 239 9.5.6 Children of permitted workers and vulnerable children 241 9.5.7 Learning outcomes 242 viii Public Accounts and Estimates Committee Contents 9.6 Higher education and skills 243 9.6.1 Universities 243 9.6.2 Technical and further education 247 10 Justice response: Police, emergency management, courts, corrections and the Hotel Quarantine Program 253 10.1 Introduction 253 10.1.1 State of emergency and state of disaster declarations 253 10.1.2 COVID‑19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) and Other Acts Amendment Act 2020 256 10.2 Victoria Police 257 10.2.1 The role of Victoria Police in the Victorian Government’s pandemic response 257 10.2.2 Compliance and enforcement 258 10.2.3 Curfew enforcement 259 10.2.4 Protest enforcement 260 10.2.5 Fines and infringements 262 10.2.6 Use of additional powers and vulnerable Victorians 268 10.2.7 Protective