Federal Government yet to establish Australian Centre for Disease Control following Covid-19

A government promise set out during Covid-19 is yet to be delivered on, meaning the country could be caught out if there is another major infectious disease outbreak.

Australia remains unprepared for the next pandemic because the federal government has failed to deliver on a $90 million promise to set up a national health body to manage disease outbreaks.

At the last election Labor promised to establish an Australian Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) that would manage future disease outbreaks “from early 2024”.

Yet five months after the mooted start date has passed health groups are “scratching their heads” over the delay in establishing the new body.

A discussion paper on the ACDC issued by Health Minister Mark Butler in November 2022 said the job of the ACDC would be to lead the national response to future infectious disease outbreaks.

The first three cases of avian influenza were detected in the Galapagos Islands. Picture: AFP

It would also be a “‘one-stop shop for trusted public health information and advice to governments” and manage chemical, biological and radiological exposure, terrorism events, and environmental hazards, including the health effects of climate change.

Advice and management of issues such as air pollution, mental health issues, antimicrobial resistance, increasing chronic disease burden, and national disasters will also be in its remit according to the discussion paper.

But two years on, only “fairly modest” progress has been made – and the federal government failed to commit extra funding in the budget.

“Whatever work has been going on inside of government hasn’t made it outside the walls of government,” Public Health Association of Australia CEO Terry Slevin said.

“The government should be ambitious, (it) should deliver substantially on its promise.

“With the time we’ve got between now and the next federal election, the government’s really going to have to get their skates on.”

An interim ACDC began operating on January 1, collating data on Covid, flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

AMA president professor Steve Robson. Picture: Supplied

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said the progress had left stakeholders “scratching our heads”.

“We have not had a lot of momentum,” AMA President Steve Robson said.

“This needs to be clarified as a priority by the government.

“In international terms, Australia lags significantly in preventive health expenditure.

“We want to change the paradigm from a sick care system to a health care system.”

ANU Professor Peter Collignon. Picture: Supplied

ANU epidemiologist Peter Collignon said duplication between interstate health agencies was still rife.

“All this data is mainly collected by state health departments, but the problem with that is they don’t necessarily share it in a timely fashion,” Prof Collignon said.

“Hopefully the ACDC, which will require the co-operation of all the states as well as the Commonwealth, will get over that problem.

“It’s one independent body with the power to get this data and (use it) without a political spin.”

The Albanese government denied it was stepping away from an election promise, and was still taking “lessons” from its pandemic response.

The only opportunity for it to pour funds into the ACDC before an election would be the 2024-25 Mid-Year Economic and Financial Outlook, later this year.

“The Government is committed to establishing an Australian CDC and is taking a phased approach to establishment,” a spokesperson for Health Minister Mark Butler said.

Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler during Question Time at Parliament House. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

But a spokesperson for the Department of Health said the Interim ACDC will remain until new legislation establishes a full-fledged organisation.

It would also build from the ongoing pandemic inquiry led by former public servant Robyn Kruk.

The inquiry is slated to deliver a report in September.

Currently the government invests $1.3b annually in preventive health, including $600m for Covid vaccinations.

Meanwhile, peer-reviewed research in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that the likelihood of a pandemic on par with Covid has risen to 2 per cent each year.

It comes after Victoria reported the country’s first human case of H5N1 bird flu. The Interim ACDC has released a fact sheet in response.

Originally published as Federal Government yet to establish Australian Centre for Disease Control following Covid-19