Human Rights Commission marks five-year COVID anniversary with report on collateral damage

This month marks five years since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the nation, resulting in lockdown responses across the country, and the Australian Human Rights Commission is saying we still don’t know the extent of suffering such measures caused.

Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay co-authored the report Collateral Damage: What the untold stories of the COVID-19 pandemic reveal about human rights in Australia.

She says we are still learning about the gravity of the suffering endured by Australians during COVID lockdowns and what could have been done to ease it.

“Australia must learn from [its] COVID-19 response and prioritise human rights in emergencies,” she said when launching the report this week.

The report found that federal, state and territory governments did not adequately consider or protect people’s human rights when implementing pandemic response measures, and that Australians from all walks of life were adversely affected, with people from marginalised backgrounds or in at-risk situations seeing their harms compounded.

“Many Australians feel as though their individual experiences during the pandemic have been pushed into the background, and that their voices haven’t been heard,” the report states.

“That is why the Australian Human Rights Commission has produced this report, Collateral Damage.

“It is centred on the stories of everyday Australians, with thousands of people from all walks of life sharing their experiences of the pandemic with us.

“There were many things that Australia got right in our pandemic response. Australia’s overall COVID-19 mortality rate was relatively low from a global perspective, and our economic performance during the pandemic was comparatively strong.

“But that is not the full picture.

“While government responses to the pandemic helped save lives, this report finds that human rights were not always considered or protected.

“Even where measures were necessary to safeguard public health, it is important to acknowledge the immediate and enduring aftermath of these decisions.”

The report is centred on the personal stories of more than 5000 Australians.

The commission gathered these stories from a national survey, community consultations and stories being shared through an online portal on its website.

Findings outline the human impact of pandemic response measures, including international and domestic border closures, lockdowns, school disruptions, quarantine, and healthcare restrictions.

In releasing the report, the commission is calling for reforms to ensure a more appropriate, considered approach in future emergencies.

It recommends all levels of government adopt an emergency response framework, with the key lesson being that human rights need to be a priority and embedded in decision-making from the outset.

The recommendations involve seven guiding principles, being: human rights are not an afterthought; one-size does not fit all; emergency measures must always be proportionate; balance risk with compassion; effective communication is essential; local knowledge creates better results; and recovery planning can’t just start after the emergency.

The report also highlights the importance of meaningful consultation, proportionate responses, balancing risk with compassion, tailored communication, empowering local communities, and planning beyond the crisis.

“During the pandemic, Australians had to live with significant restrictions on our human rights,” the commissioner says in the report.

“Measures such as international and interstate border closures, hotel quarantine, lockdowns, school closures, restrictions in aged care homes, vaccine mandates and mask mandates had a substantial – and often hidden – human cost that is outlined in this report.

“For the people who were separated from loved ones by state border closures, found themselves stranded overseas, were unable to comfort elderly parents confined to aged care homes, or whose children have struggled to re-engage at school since lengthy lockdowns, framing Australia’s pandemic response as an overall ‘success’ diminishes their personal experiences.

“These voices need to be heard if we want to ensure that future emergency responses are not only ‘successful’ in terms of public health and economic outcomes, but also in terms of fairness and compassion.”