The Chair of the Health Committee, Dr Liz Craig, is seeking public submissions on the COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill (No 2). The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020, which was enacted in May 2020, established a legal framework to manage the COVID-19 epidemic in a coordinated and orderly way. The Act allows the Minister for COVID-19 Response, or the Director-General of Health in certain circumstances, to make COVID-19 orders. The orders give effect to the public health response to COVID-19.

The bill aims to enable the public health response to COVID-19 to continue to function in an organised way. It would make amendments to the Act that are informed by experience of working with it since it commenced. The bill seeks to:

· better reflect knowledge about the length of time that the public health response may be needed

· address the reliance of managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) on the general law and operational decisions

· ensure that the empowering and enforcement provisions are fit-for-purpose to prevent and manage the risk of outbreak or spread of COVID-19.

Tell the Health Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by 11.59pm on Monday 11 October 2021.

For more details about the bill:

· Read the full content of the bill

· Get more details about the bill

· What’s been said in Parliament about the bill?

· Follow the committee’s Facebook page for updates

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