A key pillar of Australia’s success in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has been its closure of international borders. This paper addresses the principal issues concerning repatriation policy, and sets out recommendations to address deficiencies.

The UK government is finalising arrangements for a partial hotel quarantine system to begin on 15 February 2021. This paper outlines those gaps and challenges, posing a series of questions the government must answer if it wants its quarantine system to be a success.

The second wave of COVID-19 cases in Victoria led to a series of strict restrictions in the state and had devastating impacts on peoples’ lives, livelihoods and mental health. This inquiry final report finds that there were serious failings, in terms of provision of pandemic planning across the broader Victorian health sector.

In March 2020, Australians suffered restrictions on their businesses, liberty and freedom of movement - previously unseen in peacetime. The purpose of this paper is not to debate the efficacy of virus interventions. It is to determine whether governments’ COVID-19 policies were appropriately justified, weighed trade-offs, and met necessary standards of accountability.

This interim report identifies issues that have emerged from the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Board of Inquiry to date, and makes recommendations for a quarantine program in Victoria, as the state begins to consider re-opening to international arrivals.