How the case over bungled Covid-19 hotel quarantine scheme fell apart
The judicial inquiry into the program found 99 per cent of Victoria’s second wave of Covid-19 cases could be traced back to private security guards who became infected at the Rydges on Swanston and Stamford Plaza hotels in May and June 2020
- Criminal charged over hotel scheme dropped
- The case fell apart after a ruling by the court
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Criminal charges over Victoria’s fatally flawed COVID-19 hotel scheme have been dropped, with the workplace watchdog criticising the decision by prosecutors.
Worksafe charged the Department of Health in September 2021 with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, after a 15-month investigation into the bungled system.
But the case has been canned days out from trial after the County Court threw out evidence unearthed during a separate judicial inquiry.
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas at parliament on Wednesday confirmed the charges against the department had been dropped by the Office of Public Prosecutions a day earlier.
‘WorkSafe is deeply disappointed by the decision to discontinue criminal proceedings,’ a spokesperson said in a statement.
‘As an independent regulator, WorkSafe strives to enforce the highest standards of health and safety for workers and the community it serves.’
The case fell apart after an April 9 ruling by the County Court to exclude evidence produced by the 2020 judicial inquiry, led by Judge Jennifer Coate, into the hotel quarantine scheme.
The ruling was that 10 witnesses provided statements to the Coate inquiry on the health department’s behalf and under legislation, the statements could not be used against the department in the criminal proceeding.
The prosecutors office did not appeal the decision and said it ‘substantially weakened’ their 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 office said in a statement.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto, a lawyer by trade, questioned prosecutors’ justification for not proceeding with the trial.
‘If evidence were not admissible that came out of the Coate inquiry, there are other ways you can adduce evidence in a criminal proceeding,’ he said.
‘A lot of Victorians today will be wondering why no one, whether (through) the Coate inquiry or now the abandonment of this criminal proceeding … is going to be held accountable for one of the worst disasters in Victoria’s recent history.’
More than 40 charges alleged the department failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks arising from conduct of its undertaking.
Another 17 charges allege the department failed to provide and maintain an environment as safe and without risk to health for its employees.
In March 2023, a magistrate found there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction and sent the matter to the County Court for trial, which was scheduled to begin on Monday.
But the department applied to the court to have the matter discontinued – and the Office of Public Prosecutions agreed to it – on Tuesday.
The department was responsible between March and July 2020 for the state’s first hotel quarantine program.
The judicial inquiry into the program found 99 per cent of Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19 cases could be traced back to private security guards who became infected at the Rydges on Swanston and Stamford Plaza hotels in May and June 2020.
The second wave resulted in more than 18,000 new infections, 800 deaths and a lockdown that lasted 112 days.
A TIMELINE OF VICTORIA’S FATALLY FLAWED COVID-19 HOTEL QUARANTINE SYSTEM AND ITS FALLOUT
2020
March 27 – National cabinet announces returned overseas travellers must complete 14 days of hotel quarantine. Victoria decides to use private security guards in the program
May 15 – A family of four with COVID-19 are moved to the Rydges on Swanston hotel
May 25 – A staff member at the Rydges on Swanston tests positive to COVID-19 and two others develop symptoms
May 27 – Rydges on Swanston outbreak first identified by the Department of Health, eventually growing 17 workers and their contacts
June 14 – Staff member at Stamford Plaza tests positive to COVID-19, with the outbreak eventually growing to 46 people
June 24 – Victoria requests 850 ADF personnel to replace private security at hotels, but it is rescinded a day later as the Department of Justice and Community Safety takes over the program
June 30 – Then-Victorian premier Daniel Andrews announces a judicial inquiry after genomic sequencing revealed multiple COVID-19 cases can be linked to hotel quarantine staff breaching infection control protocols
July 4, July 6, July 11 – Former prime minister Scott Morrison writes to Mr Andrews three times offering ADF support
July 6 – The Victoria-NSW border shuts for first time in a century
July 20 – Hotel quarantine inquiry, led by Judge Jennifer Coate, begins
August 2 – Victoria goes back into lockdown
August 5 – Pandemic restrictions delay inquiry’s public hearings
August 11 – Mr Andrews tells a separate parliamentary inquiry ADF support was not offered for hotel quarantine, sparking war of words with then-defence minister Linda Reynolds
August 17 – Public hearings at the Coate inquiry begin
August 18 – The inquiry hears 99 per cent of active cases in Victoria stem from Rydges and Stamford outbreaks
September 25 – Mr Andrews appears before the inquiry, apologises to Victorians
September 26 – Health Minister Jenny Mikakos resigns
September 28 – In the inquiry’s closing submissions, lawyers say the program is responsible for more than 18,000 COVID-19 infections and 750 deaths
October 20 – An extraordinary hearing of the inquiry called with Mr Andrews and Professor Brett Sutton among those asked to provide new statements after it receives more emails and phone records
December 7 – New-look hotel quarantine program begins
December 21 – The inquiry’s final report fails to determine who made the decision to hire private security but identifies multiple flaws in the set-up and oversight of the scheme
2021
February 1 – Figures given to state parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee reveal the government spent at least $7.7 million on legal representation to the Coate inquiry
September 29 – WorkSafe charges the Department of Health with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act following a 15-month investigation
October 22 – The matter is heard for the first time in the Melbourne Magistrates Court
2022
November 25 – A five-week hearing, testing the evidence acquired by WorkSafe against the Department of Health, begins in the Magistrates Court
2023
March – Magistrate Simon Zebrowski finds there is sufficient evidence for the matter to go to trial and the case moves to the County Court
2024
April 9 – The County Court rules in favour of a Department of Health application to exclude evidence of 10 witnesses produced during the Coate inquiry and the ruling is not appealed by prosecutors
April 30 – Prosecutors drop the charges against the department due to the earlier ruling, days before the matter was due to go to trial
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