Proposed ACT COVID-19 powers criticised by hospitality body

The ACT branch of the Australian Hotels Association has argued that bureaucrats and government ministers should only have the ability to regulate businesses and impose density limits during a public health emergency.

The ACT's Human Rights Commission has also called for greater review mechanisms of vaccine mandates, which are also included in the amendment bill.

A proposed amendment bill being considered by the ACT Legislative Assembly would give the government and health authorities the power to make public health directions related to COVID-19 outside of a public health emergency.

Under the current public health act, the chief health officer can only make declarations related to quarantine, density limits, mask mandates or vaccine mandates if there is a public health emergency.

But the proposed amendments would allow these directions to be made in relation to COVID-19 once emergency powers have ceased. Some responsibility for these powers would also be shifted from the chief health officer to government ministers.

The bill would not allow for lockdowns to be imposed, another public health emergency would have to be declared for this power.

The current public health emergency is set to end on February 12. Under the public health act, a public health emergency can only be extended for three months at a time.

The bill is currently the subject of an inquiry and public hearings on the bill started on Tuesday.

Australian Hotels Association ACT general manager Anthony Brierley told the inquiry that the organisation did not see the point of such powers outside of an emergency declaration.

Mr Brierley said the hospitality and hotels industry had been the most adversely affected during the pandemic and he said continued regulations would be damaging.

He argued that the powers retained in the amendments were "exceptionally broad".

"We believe powers such as regulating private and public gatherings, regulating the carrying on of activities, businesses and undertakings by introducing limits on density or capacity of an area preventing or limiting entry into the ACT are emergency powers and as such should be reserved for declared emergency periods," he said.

"Those retained powers are so extensive, that they quite realistically could create a shadow lockdown, where businesses in our industry at least, are forced to close because restrictions make it unviable to be open."

The health minister, in consultation with the chief minister, would have the power to impose restrictions on gathering numbers, household visitors and density limits in hospitality and retail venues, only if this is to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

Ministers could also create vaccine mandates. But in order to impose the restrictions and mandates advice would have to be sought from the chief health officer and there must be consultation with the human rights commissioner.

The ACT Human Rights Commission expressed concern about review rights in relation to vaccine mandates. Its submission has called for further safeguards that vaccine directions are implemented consistently with human rights.

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"It is of significant concern that the internal and external review provisions in the bill do not extend to vaccination directions," the submission said.

"The commission considers that the failure to provide review rights for vaccination directions is a serious omission in the bill and should not be supported.

"In our view, express provision should be made in the bill to enable a person to seek review of a vaccination direction."

The chief health officer would still have control of quarantine measures and contact tracing.

The bill would expire after 18 months.

More than 120 submissions from the bill have been made public and most are from individuals who are against the bill. These individuals mostly expressed concern about vaccine mandates.

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