COVID-19 and the Future of Australian Public Health Law

Abstract

This article discusses how public health laws have enabled and shaped responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines how COVID-19 has illuminated the nature of Australian governments’ powers to respond to public health emergencies and the heightened importance of transparency and accountability of government decision-making during such a crisis. It also analyses the importance of domestic measures — especially border closures and quarantine — in addressing risks that will continue to be posed by infectious diseases. The article then considers how these developments might influence Australian public health law in the future. It identifies that COVID-19 has raised the profile of public health law by highlighting the crucial protective role that it can play during a public health emergency. It also explores matters that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted which should inform public health decision-making during future health emergencies, including social justice and human rights considerations, data and evidence from medical science, and the likely importance of a ‘One Health’ approach to addressing challenges posed by further zoonotic diseases. This article argues that the increased prominence of public health law during the COVID-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on public health and health law more generally.