Page 1201 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and the Commonwealth Department of Health.
The strength of our community response has played a key role in keeping the number of confirmed cases relatively low, which, unfortunately, has not been the case in other parts of the world where there have been a significant number of infections and terrible loss of life.
Although the ACT has done a great job to flatten the curve, this pandemic is not over. New cases are still being diagnosed in Australia—particularly in New South Wales and Victoria—and we must remain vigilant in our physical distancing and also be ready to respond in the event that a resurgence of COVID-19 occurs in the ACT.
The government made urgent amendments to ACT legislation to ensure that we could respond in the way the community needed us to. Other states and territories have taken similar steps with their own legislation. This work is ongoing as governments adapt to the demands of the global pandemic.
Continuing this process of making necessary legislative changes, the Public Health Amendment Bill 2020 proposes a change to compensation arrangements under the Public Health Act 1997, hereafter “the act”. Section 122 of the act says an eligible person may apply to the Minister for Health for compensation in relation to any loss or damage suffered by a person as a result of anything done in the exercise of a function under part 7, which relates to emergency declarations.
This provision is clearly not appropriately tailored to a pandemic environment and the need for whole-of-community public health measures to be implemented to protect the community in these circumstances. The right to apply for compensation under section 122 has the potential to significantly divert assistance from the broader ACT community because of the necessarily broad scope of the directions made by the Chief Health Officer.
This bill is about making sure the government can continue to focus on getting government support to where it is most needed and has the most effect, rather than expending significant government resources in a way that is not fit for purpose in this environment.
The bill amends the act to provide that compensation will not be payable to an otherwise eligible person if the loss or damage is suffered as a result of anything done in the exercise of a function under part 7 of the act in relation to a COVID-19 declaration while the declaration was in force.
An exception is made in relation to anything done under a direction by the Chief Health Officer under section 120(1)(f) of the Public Health Act. This subsection relates to situations where the Chief Health Officer takes control of property or requires property to be at their disposal in relation to a declared public health emergency. This is to ensure that if the Chief Health Officer takes control of property under a COVID-19 emergency public health declaration, the right to apply for compensation under section 122 remains available for the owners of that property.
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