Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

Just for the clarity of the chamber, I understand that the Senate has just given leave for the amendments on sheets 3443, 3441, 3440 and 3439 to be moved together. I simply wish to confirm that, because they're not listed in consecutive order on the grey, and I wanted to make sure we were all clear about where we were headed.

I will make a very brief remark about the bill overall, which is just to thank those members and senators who have engaged here and in the other place on the debate about the establishment of the Australian Centre for Disease Control. I think there has been genuine interest and genuine engagement in relation to the bill. There has been very constructive feedback and dialogue with the government, and I know that Minister Butler has appreciated the willingness of many members in this place and senators in this chamber to engage.

It is a very significant bill. It delivers on a promise that Labor made some time ago, and it will establish a new statutory agency to commence on 1 January 2026. The point here, as Senator Steele-John indicated in moving his amendments, is to strengthen our 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 independent COVID-19 response inquiry found that we went into the pandemic with no playbook for the pandemic, we had limited readiness in the national medical stockpile, and we had badly stretched aged-care and healthcare systems. These were all structural challenges which made it difficult for Australia to respond, and that inquiry identified serious gaps in our national response, and the absence of a central authority to provide consistent advice, fragmented data systems and outdated emergency fund were amongst those. The message was very clear from that inquiry—we can't allow our public health systems to fall into neglect or short-term thinking.

The inquiry talked about the need to rebuild and maintain public trust in health advice—trust in the health advice that informs government when making decisions that can have a very significant impact on peoples' lives. The Australian CDC responds directly to this request. It will bring independence and transparency—the independence and transparency that the public expects—and it will make its advice to government and the reasons behind that advice available to the public. Establishing a permanent Australian CDC through this bill will deliver on our commitment to create an independent agency that can help protect Australia from diseases and public health threats.

The initial priorities for the CDC will focus on communicable diseases, pandemic preparedness and capabilities in environmental health and occupational respiratory diseases, with progressive expansion into areas such as chronic conditions considered following an independent review of the CDC's funding and operations in 2028. That 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.

Our expectation is that the CDC will consult widely with public health experts, with clinicians, with academics and, importantly, noting the contributions from Senator Steele-John, with communities. It should engage closely with those with lived experience of health threats and response measures to inform its advice, and this inclusive approach should ensure that the CDC's advice is grounded in real-world impacts and is sensitive to social, cultural and economic factors that shape health outcomes in nuanced ways across our diverse society. No Australian should be left behind.

It will complement and not duplicate the work of existing government agencies, and it will enhance our 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. We expect the Australian CDC to work closely with states and territories and to tailor its engagement to meet the unique needs of each jurisdiction, ensuring that national coordination does not come at the expense of local relevance. It will be led by a director-general, directly accountable to the minister for health and accountable also—importantly for this chamber—to parliament. Supporting that director-general will be an advisory council made up of members with deep expertise in relevant fields, including public health, clinical practice, economics, health, human rights, data, emergency management and communications. At least one member must be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person 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 the reform. One of the most powerful lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic is that Australians expect clarity in public health decision-making, and 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 that 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, and 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. It will use advanced data analytics to detect emerging threats and provide timely, independent advice. It will also streamline data sharing across the Commonwealth and with states and territories, supported 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 stage.

The 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 and lasting impact. To ensure that it 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, and it should ensure that we are better prepared, more united and more accountable in the face of future public health threats.

I want to turn briefly to the amendments proposed by Senator Steele-John that are before us. As Senator Steele-John indicated, a number of these go to ensuring that the particular challenges faced by the disability community will be observed and acknowledged in the work of the CDC. I thank the senator for his constructive engagement with the government. The government appreciates the way that you approached this debate. It is the case that we will now ensure that at least one member of the advisory council, should this amendment pass, be a person with disability who has expertise, qualifications or experience in the health needs of people with disability, amongst the other effects of this amendment. I thank you particularly, Senator, for this contribution.

The final thing I would say in the remaining time is that this is a long overdue reform. We hope that it honours the hard lessons of the past and builds a stronger, healthier future for all Australians.