Charges dropped: Government escapes punishment over quarantine blunders that cost 768 lives

Victoria’s Health Department has been cleared of all criminal charges over the bungled hotel quarantine scheme due to a loophole that meant the state’s top prosecutors could not use evidence from a public inquiry.

The loophole – which effectively made the evidence of 10 witnesses inadmissible – has forced the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) to drop 58 charges that alleged hotel staff and guests were put in danger during the COVID-19 outbreak that sent parts of Victoria into one of the world’s longest lockdowns.

In June 2020, Brett Sutton was Victoria’s chief health officer, Jenny Mikakos was health minister and Daniel Andrews was premier.

The 10 witnesses were employees of the Health Department, who had provided statements to an inquiry investigating the state government’s handling of the hotel quarantine scheme.

By providing those statements on behalf of the Health Department to the Hotel Quarantine Board of Inquiry – a public hearing – their evidence was later deemed inadmissible in the criminal proceedings brought by WorkSafe Victoria.

The OPP chose not to appeal a County Court judge’s April 9 ruling that the evidence was inadmissible.

WorkSafe Victoria had accused the Health Department of 17 occupational health and safety breaches for failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment for employees.

Authorities outside Melbourne’s Intercontinental Hotel in 2021.

The department was charged with an additional 41 breaches for failing to ensure that non-employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

“WorkSafe is deeply disappointed by the decision to discontinue criminal proceedings against the Department of Health in relation to the Victorian hotel quarantine program,” a WorkSafe spokesman said.

WorkSafe alleged the Health Department had failed to appoint experts in infection prevention and control at the hotels, to provide proper training to security guards or to provide proper instructions around mask-wearing.

In all charges, WorkSafe alleged the Health Department, Victorian government employees on secondment and security guards were put at risk of serious illness or death through contracting COVID from returned travellers, other people working in the hotels or from contaminated surfaces.

A spokesman for the OPP said the inadmissible evidence of 10 witnesses had “substantially weakened the prosecution case”.

“As a consequence of the evidentiary ruling, a determination was made that there were not reasonable prospects of conviction in relation to the charges before the court,” the spokesperson said.

The hotel quarantine inquiry found a multitude of failures contributed to the deaths of 768 people and the infection of 18,000 more.

The charges against the Health Department had followed a 15-month WorkSafe investigation which involved the review of tens of thousands of documents, including those submitted to the inquiry.

Returning travellers catch the Skybus to hotel quarantine.

WorkSafe will review the matter to determine whether to provide advice to the Victorian government on legislative changes to prevent government departments avoiding charges through the use of inquiries.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the outcome had further eroded Victorians’ expectation of government accountability.

“No matter what the level of the blowout, no matter what the level of the cost is in terms of human life, no one is ever held accountable, they lose confidence in institutions and they further lose confidence in the government,” he said.

Pesutto said it appeared all avenues to hold those responsible for hotel quarantine’s failures had been exhausted.

“The sad truth for all Victorians is that after the disaster and the catastrophe of hotel quarantine that saw over 800 people lose their lives, no one – no one – will be held accountable,” he said. “That’s not acceptable in Victoria.”

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she was advised that the charges would be dropped on Tuesday but had not been aware of when the decision was made.

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