Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Makin for his thoughtful contribution to this bill, the Australian Centre for Disease Control Bill 2025, and for his thoughtful contribution over many years to good health policy in this country. I want to thank other members who have contributed to the debate on the establishment of the Australian Centre for Disease Control. I want to acknowledge the genuine interest and thoughtful engagement from members of this House in relation to this important bill. I've appreciated the constructive dialogue and the feedback that has been shared, and I've met with a number of members to discuss the bill in detail. The level of engagement reflects the significance of the bill and the shared commitment to delivering an Australian CDC that will strengthen the country's capabilities. I share the members' interests in seeing the CDC become a lasting, trusted pillar of Australia's public health architecture.

This bill delivers on the government's promise to establish an Australian centre for disease control as a statutory agency within my portfolio, commencing on 1 January 2026. Establishing a transparent, trusted and independent CDC will strengthen Australia's public health capability, improve pandemic preparedness and safeguard the health and wellbeing of all Australians, not just in times of crisis but every day. The need for a national CDC has never been clearer.

The independent COVID-19 Response Inquiry found Australia went into the COVID pandemic with no playbook for the pandemic, limited readiness of the National Medical Stockpile and badly stretched aged-care and healthcare systems. The inquiry identified serious gaps in our national response to the pandemic. These included the absence of a central authority to provide consistent advice, fragmented data systems and outdated emergency planning. The message was clear: we must not allow our public health systems to fall into neglect or into short-term thinking.

The inquiry also spoke about the need to rebuild trust and maintain public trust. Trust in the health advice that informs governments when making decisions can have a significant impact on peoples' lives. The Australian CDC will bring the independence and, importantly, the transparency that the public rightly expects. It will make its advice to governments and the reasons behind the advice transparently available to the public.

Establishing a permanent Australian CDC through this bill will deliver on our commitment to create an independent agency that will help protect Australia from diseases and other public health threats. It ensures that Australia joins our international peers in establishing a permanent national centre for disease control. The Australian CDC will be an independent Commonwealth agency separate from the Department of Health. It will draw on the best scientific and technical expertise across the country and serve as a national leader and authoritative voice on public health, helping to set strategic priorities and guide responses to emerging threats.

The Australian CDC's initial priorities will focus on communicable diseases, pandemic preparedness and capabilities in environmental health and occupational respiratory diseases. Progressive expansion into areas such as chronic conditions will be considered following an independent review of the CDC's funding and operations in 2028. The review will assess the Australian CDC's effectiveness in delivering on its initial priorities and help inform a staged widening of its remit over time.

The Australian CDC will consult widely with public health experts, clinicians, academics and communities. It will engage closely with those with lived experience of health threats and response measures to inform its advice. This inclusive approach ensures that the CDC's advice is grounded in real-world impacts and is sensitive to the social, cultural and economic factors that shape health outcomes in nuanced ways across our diverse society. No Australian will be left behind.

The Australian CDC will complement, not duplicate, the work of existing government agencies. It will enhance our national capacity by providing high-quality, independent advice and improving access to timely, reliable data. It will support the Commonwealth and state and territory governments in planning for and responding to health emergencies. The Australian CDC will work closely with states and territories and tailor its engagement to meet the unique needs of each jurisdiction, ensuring that national coordination does not come at the expense of local relevance.

To ensure accountability, the Australian CDC will be led by a director-general who reports directly to the minister for health and is accountable to the parliament. Supporting the director-general will be an advisory council made up of members with deep expertise in relevant fields, including public health, clinical practice, economics, human rights, data, emergency management and communications. At least one member must be an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander and must have expertise in the health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, supporting our commitment to closing the gap.

Transparency is a cornerstone of this reform. One of the most powerful lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic is that Australians expect clarity in public health decision-making. The CDC will be required to publish the advice it provides to governments. This will help rebuild public trust, counter misinformation and ensure that communities and businesses have the information they need to act effectively during future crises. Data will be at the heart of the CDC's work. The COVID-19 inquiry highlighted a critical weakness in our pandemic response. Decisions were often made without sufficient evidence due to fragmented and inaccessible data. This bill addresses that gap.

The CDC will lead the development of a modern approach to national public health data that enables faster detection of risks, more consistent responses across jurisdictions and stronger foundations for planning. The CDC will use advanced data analytics to detect emerging threats and provide timely, independent advice. It will also streamline data-sharing across the Commonwealth and states and territories, supported, of course, by strong privacy safeguards. These data functions have been developed using a privacy-by-design approach, ensuring that transparency and individual rights are protected at every single stage.

This bill is the result of more than three years of policy development and public consultation. It closes the governance and data gaps that undermined our pandemic response. It reflects the input of key stakeholders. And it establishes a CDC that is built to deliver real, lasting impact. To ensure the CDC remains effective and fit for purpose, the government will conduct a legislative review every five years. This will allow us to monitor its performance, adapt to new challenges and ensure that the legislation continues to support the CDC's mission, particularly in improving the availability and use of public health data.

This bill establishes a permanent, evidence based institution to ensure that Australia is better prepared, more united and more accountable in the face of future public health threats. It is a long-overdue reform, one that honours the hard lessons of the past and builds a stronger, healthier future for all Australians. I commend the bill to the House.

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