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Senate Select Committee on COVID-19

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Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 Whole-of-Government Submission 12 May 2020 1 Contents Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 3 The architecture for the Australian Government response was established early ................................ 6 The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) ....................................................... 6 National Incident Room activated (20 January 2020) ......................................................................... 6 ‘Human coronavirus with pandemic potential’ added as a Listed Human Disease under the Biosecurity Act 2015 (21 January 2020) .............................................................................................. 6 DFAT Emergency Call Unit opened (26 January) and Crisis Centre activated (1 February 2020) ....... 6 Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus (17 February 2020) ...... 7 Emergency Response Plan for Communicable Disease Incidents of National Significance: National Arrangements for Coronavirus (25 February 2020) ............................................................................ 7 National Coordination Mechanism (5 March 2020) ........................................................................... 7 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group on COVID-19 (5 March 2020) ......................... 8 National Cabinet (first meeting 15 March 2020) ................................................................................ 8 Coronavirus Business Liaison Unit (15 March 2020)........................................................................... 8 Human Biosecurity Emergency declared by the Governor-General under the Biosecurity Act 2015 (18 March 2020) .................................................................................................................................. 9 National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) (25 March 2020) ........................................... 9 Advisory Committee for the COVID-19 Response for People with Disability (2 April 2020) .............. 9 The scale of the Australian Government response is unprecedented ................................................. 10 Border and quarantine arrangements .............................................................................................. 10 Social policy response ....................................................................................................................... 11 Economic response ........................................................................................................................... 13 Supporting essential services and bolstering supply chains ............................................................. 14 International response ...................................................................................................................... 15 State and territory responses ........................................................................................................... 16 The APS is playing a crucial role in the response .................................................................................. 17 Leadership ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Mobilisation ...................................................................................................................................... 18 Case Study 1: Department of Health ................................................................................................ 21 Case Study 2: Services Australia........................................................................................................ 22 Case Study 3: Home Affairs Portfolio ................................................................................................ 23 Case Study 4: Australian Public Service Commission ........................................................................ 24 Case Study 5: Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio ........................................................................ 25 Attachment A: List of significant policy announcements and operational developments up to 8 May 2020 ........................................................................................................................................... 26 2 Overview Over the last three months the global COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly and radically changed Australia. Tragically, 97 people in Australia have lost their lives as a result of COVID-19, and many more thousands around the world. As can be found on the Australian Government’s Coronavirus app, on 19 January 2020 Professor Brendan Murphy, the Australian Chief Medical Officer, released a statement indicating the Department of Health’s awareness of cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) from the region of Wuhan in China and that the Department was watching developments very closely. We now know 2019-nCov as the disease called COVID-19. Awareness of the disease quickly turned into action when the National Incident Room was activated in the Health Department on 20 January 2020 to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. On 21 January 2020, ‘Human coronavirus with pandemic potential’ was added, by the Department of Health, as a Listed Human Disease under the Biosecurity Act 2015, enabling the use of enhanced biosecurity measures. Soon after, the Department of Health began providing advice to the public on COVID-19 via its website and at all ports of entry via pre-recorded announcements, electronic signage, pull-up banners and information fact sheets. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, also around this time, began regularly updating travel advice to reflect the evolving global situation. Australia’s first case was recorded by Victorian authorities on 25 January - the person was a passenger from Wuhan in China who flew to Melbourne from Guangdong on 19 January. On 30 January 2020, following a meeting of the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee, the Director-General declared that the outbreak of 2019-nCoV constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and issued advice as Temporary Recommendations under the IHR (2005). On 1 February 2020, the Government put in place the first of a series of travel restrictions on foreign nationals entering Australia from mainland China. Subsequent travel restrictions were applied to travel from other countries which experienced outbreaks – Iran, the Republic of Korea and Italy. The establishment of the National Cabinet at the Council of Australian Governments meeting on 13 March 2020 provided a new and effective governance mechanism through which Commonwealth, state and territory leaders could jointly take decisions to tackle both the health and economic dimensions of the fight against COVID-19. On 15 March, the Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, issued advice to Australians overseas wishing to return home to do so as soon as possible by commercial means. On 20 March 2020, the Government closed Australia’s borders to all non-citizens and non-residents and on 25 March, the Government implemented a ‘do not travel’ ban on Australians travelling overseas, under the Biosecurity Act 2015. Both bans remain in place at the time of writing. 3 An unprecedented health response began to roll-out in February to strengthen our already world-class health system to respond to COVID-19, in line with the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for COVID-19. Australia acted early and decisively to test, trace and isolate cases and upskill the public health units in each of the states and territories. This put us in a strong position to avoid the widespread, undetected community transmission that occurred in other countries. On 11 March 2020, the Government announced a $2.4 billion first-phase public health package, followed soon after with additional funding to support the mental health of Australians, support the aged care sector, and to secure hospital beds and skilled workforce in private hospitals for the public health system. The virus, along with the public health measures and restrictions necessary to slow its spread, has given rise to significant economic impacts. So after first building health system capabilities and making it COVID-19 ready through such measures as expanding telehealth services, the Government delivered three economic support packages to support households and businesses and the broader community. The first focussed on delivering support for business investment, providing cash flow assistance for businesses and income support payments to households. The second focussed on providing further support for workers and households, including a Coronavirus supplement, early release of superannuation and further assistance to businesses to keep people in a job through boosting cash flow to employers. The third package aimed at maintaining an employment connection through Jobkeeper, a wage subsidy to assist employers keep employees during a period of falling demand. A total support package of $320 billion was put in place including fiscal support from the government and monetary policy and liquidity support measures by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Across the forward estimates, this support amounts to more than 16 per
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