Pandemics, Public Health Emergencies and Government Powers: Perspectives on Australian Law explores the multi-layered and multi-faceted ways in which Australia’s laws, regulations and law-makers have engaged with the COVID-19 pandemic. What emerges from the 21 chapters from leading scholars in this edited collection is that there have been both successes and failures. The virus keeps evolving and we as a nation need to continue to learn from international developments and what has, and has not, worked in Australia. Law is an integral part of the public health framework that protects the community during a pandemic. A significant component of Australia’s legal response to COVID-19 has been to give extensive powers to State and Territory governments to manage the crisis. This has involved imposition of limits on individuals’ rights and liberties in relation to quarantine arrangements, border control, lockdowns, curfews and face masks, as well as requirements to use QR codes. At times these measures have been controversial, both legally and within the general community. Our workplaces, our clinical services, our research processes and our legal system will emerge changed after COVID-19 . This requires ongoing evaluation and reflection. Pandemics, Public Health Emergencies and Government Powers: Perspectives on Australian Law is a constructive early contribution to this end.
