Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) statement on the Prime Minister’s announcement for an independent review of hotel quarantine arrangements

This statement has been archived.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) supports an independent review of hotel quarantine arrangements across Australia.

The 14-day quarantine period has been critical to Australia’s success in controlling COVID-19. Hotel quarantine has minimised the risk of introducing COVID-19 into the Australian community.  It is important to manage this risk well, and to optimise hotel quarantine arrangements across Australia.

AHPPC recommend the review looks at:

• training of clinical, hotel and other enabling staff (for example, security, police, enforcement, service providers etc) in how to prevent and control the spread of the virus
• whether staff follow their training
• links between community cases and cases in hotel quarantine
• the extent of testing of people in hotel quarantine
• making testing of people in hotel quarantine mandatory through legislation or contracts
• how suspected and confirmed cases among people in hotel quarantine are managed
• support services provided and whether they are effective; this includes medical, mental health, social services, and financial support
• support services provided to vulnerable people in quarantine
• support services for culturally and linguistically diverse people in quarantine
• logistics
• administration
• risk accountability and governance; this means looking at whether there are:
  • appropriate policies and guidelines
  • protocols for record keeping
  • risk identification, management and mitigation procedures
  • plans for monitoring and evaluating outcomes
• how changes in border restrictions affect quarantine capacity needs

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