Health officials in Australia said they had detected the Covid Omicron strain for the first time
A government report states the response to the pandemic was not as effective as it should have been.

The Australian government will invest AU$251 million to establish the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) as an independent authority, following an inquiry report that outlined 26 recommendations aimed at improving the government's response to major health crises, Health Minister Mark Butler said.

Set up by the federal government in September 2023, the inquiry was tasked with providing recommendations to enhance the country's preparedness for future pandemics.

The 868-page report, released on Tuesday, outlined 26 specific actions and nine guiding recommendations for the government, The Guardian reported.

Among the recommendations, the report suggested setting up the CDC, which was functioning as an interim organization now, to serve as a trusted source for communication, Butler stated.

The CDC will start operations from Jan. 1 2026, Sky News reported.

The inquiry report also highlighted the nation's "grossly inadequate" handling of the COVID pandemic.

"The first lesson from this report is that like most countries, frankly, our pandemic plans were grossly inadequate for the scale of the challenge that COVID-19 presented to us," Butler told reporters Tuesday.

"Australia at the beginning of this pandemic was pretty much the only OECD nation without a central authoritative Centre for Disease Control and it was an election promise from Anthony Albanese made in one of his budget reply speeches to... establish a CDC here in Australia," he added.

The report mentioned the shortcomings in the government's planning regarding the closure of international borders, a key measure during COVID, in addition to the lack of a quarantine strategy and inadequate preparation for workforce demands throughout the pandemic. The report pointed out the response to the pandemic was not as effective as it should have been.

"And as a result, to use the words of the report, our response to the pandemic was not as effective as it could have been," Butler said.

As most citizens have lost faith in the Australian government during the initial stages of COVID, it was essential to restore the trust for future health crises. The report stated that tough pandemic measures such as lockdowns and travel restrictions may not be well-received again.

"When attempting to encourage adherence to restrictions, the focus should be on appropriate policy levers and mechanisms to drive behaviors, goodwill, openness to information and trust, rather than the 'stick‑based' approaches that are often perceived as 'punitive' and 'forceful'," the report stated.

Speaking along with Butler, Treasurer Jim Chalmers pointed to the "big mistakes" that affected the Australian economy. "Those mistakes were costly and they were inflationary," he said.

The Australian economy incurred an estimated cost of AU$31 billion due to delays in vaccine procurement and rollout. Based on the figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 21,827 deaths from or related to COVID occurred between March 2020 and January 2024.