covid19-law.com.au
Chapter 1: Overview
1. COVID-19
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the official name of the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2).
It was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) China Country Office on 31 December 2019. On 11 and 12 January 2020, the WHO received further detailed information from the National Health Commission China that the outbreak was associated with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan City (WHO, Situation Report – 1).
Since then, it has spread around the world. Data on current global health impacts is shown in the WHO Dashboard, and by John Hopkins University in a map and graphs visually depicting the available data. The Commonwealth Department of Health publishes up-to-date data about the impacts of COVID-19 in Australia, including in an accessible visual format.
2. COVID-19 and Australian law
The purpose of this text is to provide a commentary on Australian law made in response to COVID-19.
The Australian polity comprises the Commonwealth of Australia, six States — New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA) and Tasmania — and several internal and external territories, the most significant of which are the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT).
Each polity has three branches: a parliament, which makes primary legislation; an executive branch, which makes subordinate legislation and administers the law; and a judicial branch which determines legal controversies.
This text deals with the making, administration and enforcement of laws by each branch of each polity.
The power of each branch of each polity, and the limits on that power, is subject to the Australian Constitution, which we briefly discuss in Chapter 2.
Australian law comprises the rules set down by parliaments in primary legislation, the executive in subordinate legislation, and the courts in the general law (primarily common law and equity). COVID-19 poses profound and novel challenges, which has given, and will continue to give, rise both to new laws required to meet those challenges and to issues about the specific application to those challenges of the existing law.
Those challenges have already resulted in the enactment of new primary and subordinate legislation throughout Australia. New challenges, and new legislation to meet them, are likely to arise for some time to come.
Issues have arisen, and will continue to arise, about the proper construction and application of legislative rules specifically targeted to COVID-19 challenges, and about the application of other legislative rules to those challenges. Those issues are determined by courts, as well as tribunals exercising executive power (or a combination of judicial and executive power).
Issues have also arisen, and will continue to arise, about the specific application of the general law to COVID-19 challenges, and in some cases about the development of the general law in light of those challenges. Those issues are also determined by courts and tribunals.
The substantive law relating to COVID-19, as enacted by the legislature, the executive, and the courts and administrative tribunals, is dealt with in Chapter 3.
Issues have also arisen, and will continue to arise, about the effect on procedure in courts and tribunals of COVID-19 and the extraordinary measures enacted to slow its spread. Issues of procedure are dealt with in Chapter 4.
3. Method
We have written this text as an electronic resource. Also, we have tried to be efficient with words. Where another person or entity we trust has considered an issue or collected information in a useful way, we have linked to that resource, and not sought to duplicate it here.
Wherever possible, we have hyperlinked the primary sources of law referred to in this text. For primary and subordinate legislation, we have linked to the relevant Commonwealth, State or Territory official webpage, or Jade or Austlii. For cases, we have predominantly used Jade.
This text is intended to provide you, the reader, with succinct, timely and accurate information about COVID-19 and Australian law.
There are several ways of finding your way around this service. On the left of the screen is a table of contents, which you can access at all times. At the bottom of each page are buttons - left and right - that allow you to navigate to the next or previous page of text. The text also contains numerous cross-references allowing you to navigate internally to related content.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the official name of the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2).
It was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) China Country Office on 31 December 2019. On 11 and 12 January 2020, the WHO received further detailed information from the National Health Commission China that the outbreak was associated with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan City (WHO, Situation Report – 1).
Since then, it has spread around the world. Data on current global health impacts is shown in the WHO Dashboard, and by John Hopkins University in a map and graphs visually depicting the available data. The Commonwealth Department of Health publishes up-to-date data about the impacts of COVID-19 in Australia, including in an accessible visual format.
2. COVID-19 and Australian law
The purpose of this text is to provide a commentary on Australian law made in response to COVID-19.
The Australian polity comprises the Commonwealth of Australia, six States — New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA) and Tasmania — and several internal and external territories, the most significant of which are the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT).
Each polity has three branches: a parliament, which makes primary legislation; an executive branch, which makes subordinate legislation and administers the law; and a judicial branch which determines legal controversies.
This text deals with the making, administration and enforcement of laws by each branch of each polity.
The power of each branch of each polity, and the limits on that power, is subject to the Australian Constitution, which we briefly discuss in Chapter 2.
Australian law comprises the rules set down by parliaments in primary legislation, the executive in subordinate legislation, and the courts in the general law (primarily common law and equity). COVID-19 poses profound and novel challenges, which has given, and will continue to give, rise both to new laws required to meet those challenges and to issues about the specific application to those challenges of the existing law.
Those challenges have already resulted in the enactment of new primary and subordinate legislation throughout Australia. New challenges, and new legislation to meet them, are likely to arise for some time to come.
Issues have arisen, and will continue to arise, about the proper construction and application of legislative rules specifically targeted to COVID-19 challenges, and about the application of other legislative rules to those challenges. Those issues are determined by courts, as well as tribunals exercising executive power (or a combination of judicial and executive power).
Issues have also arisen, and will continue to arise, about the specific application of the general law to COVID-19 challenges, and in some cases about the development of the general law in light of those challenges. Those issues are also determined by courts and tribunals.
The substantive law relating to COVID-19, as enacted by the legislature, the executive, and the courts and administrative tribunals, is dealt with in Chapter 3.
Issues have also arisen, and will continue to arise, about the effect on procedure in courts and tribunals of COVID-19 and the extraordinary measures enacted to slow its spread. Issues of procedure are dealt with in Chapter 4.
3. Method
We have written this text as an electronic resource. Also, we have tried to be efficient with words. Where another person or entity we trust has considered an issue or collected information in a useful way, we have linked to that resource, and not sought to duplicate it here.
Wherever possible, we have hyperlinked the primary sources of law referred to in this text. For primary and subordinate legislation, we have linked to the relevant Commonwealth, State or Territory official webpage, or Jade or Austlii. For cases, we have predominantly used Jade.
This text is intended to provide you, the reader, with succinct, timely and accurate information about COVID-19 and Australian law.
There are several ways of finding your way around this service. On the left of the screen is a table of contents, which you can access at all times. At the bottom of each page are buttons - left and right - that allow you to navigate to the next or previous page of text. The text also contains numerous cross-references allowing you to navigate internally to related content.
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Image credit: Fusion Medical Animation
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