A new report has found the pandemic had a worse impact on certain communities and groups.
The report, funded by Australian philanthropic organisation, the Paul Ramsay Foundation, is an independent review of Australia’s COVID response.
It found that people with disabilities, temporary migrants, multicultural communities, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, international students, First Nations communities and temporary migrants, were among those who were disproportionately impacted by COVID.
The report found the impact of the pandemic particularly impacted those groups financially, emotionally, physically and mentally.
It pointed out that the COVID death rate for people born overseas was 2.5 times as high as for those born in Australia, while the mortality rates CALD communities were higher still.
Australians in the bottom 20 per cent by socio-economic status were three times as likely to die of COVID-19 than those in the top 20 per cent, the report found. The death rates, over 75 per cent, occurred in aged care facilities.
In terms of vaccination, the report said for people with a disability it was 10 percentage points lower than other Australians. The rollout of Australia’s vaccination program was afflicted by bad luck, bad communication and bad decisions, it added.
Identifying six key issues, the report made several recommendations to help be better prepared for future pandemics.
These include:
- Strengthening crisis preparation, planning and testing
- Improving government decision making through broader advice and greater transparency
- Modernising how governments use data
- Establishing an expert body and trusted voice on public health
- Enhancing public service collaboration, capability and communication, and
- Building a culture of real-time evaluation and learning in the public sector.
Click on the full report here
(With NEMBC Multilingual News, Victoria)
The Indian Sun acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government.
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