Strict lockdowns that forced schools to shut as a precaution and made families work and learn from home harmed students, and should have ended earlier as more evidence emerged they were not major transmission hotspots, the government has been told.

The finding is from a report into Australia’s COVID-19 response led by former secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Peter Shergold, high-profile board director Jillian Broadbent, former diplomat Peter Varghese and 2021 Young Australian of the Year Isobel Marshall.