The Senate committee report looks at excess mortality rates in Australia since 2020. The report finds that after dropping in 2020 due to strict lockdown measures, excess mortality spiked from 2021 onwards as a direct result of COVID-19. The committee has made five recommendations towards improving reporting, communication and compensation during public health crises.

Excess mortality is defined as the difference between the observed number of deaths in a specified time period and the expected number of deaths in the same period.

Excess mortality was down in 2020 due to strict lockdown measures enforced at the height of the pandemic, but rose in 2021 and again in 2022 due in part to the Omicron wave of COVID-19. COVID-19 was found to be the main cause of excess deaths in 2021, 2022 and up to August 2023. In 2022 the virus accounted for over half of the estimated excess deaths in all age groups and over 95 per cent of excess mortality in people aged under 35 years old; the first time an infectious disease had been in the five leading causes since the late 1960s. 

The authors of the report emphasise the need to strengthen Australia's healthcare systems against future public health emergencies.

Recommendations

1. The Australian Bureau of Statistics should include geographic indicators in its excess mortality estimates; and address gaps in the data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, and people in rural and regional areas.
2. That the Australian Government consider a no-fault compensation scheme for Commonwealth-funded vaccines.
3. That the Australian Government establish the Australian Centre for Disease Control as soon as practicable.
4. A review of Australia’s public health information communication strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, to improve the delivery of future public health communication.
5. That the senate improve processes related to witness participation in public hearings.