Class Action in Victoria against Lockdown and Hotel Quarantine amid COVID-19 Pandemic Persists
Victorian businesses are being encouraged to register a claim by July.
Businesses in Victoria affected by the class action resulting from the second wave of COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia are urged to sign up for the class action.
Despite Victorian prosecutors dropping charges against the state government for quarantine due to inadmissible evidence, the class action is ongoing.
“Registration is open to Victorian retail businesses that were unable to provide (or were limited in their ability to supply) goods or services from their place of business to the public because of the second-wave lockdowns,” the law firm explains.
“With the consent of both parties, the Supreme Court of Victoria has ordered mediation to occur in November this year.”
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The document points out that businesses affected by the public’s inability to attend the business during the second wave lockdown are likely to be group members of the class action.
“In summary, the class action seeks compensation for retail businesses as a result of the “second-wave” lockdowns that occurred in Victoria from July to October 2020. The plaintiff alleges that the lockdowns were a result of negligence in the hotel quarantine program,” the notice reveals.
“There is to be a Court-ordered mediation in the class action in November 2024. A mediation allows the parties to determine if they can reach agreement about the outcome of the action (subject to Court approval).”
The class action, initiated on Aug. 21, 2021, targets the State of Victoria, the former minister for health, and several other departmental officials.
According to court documents, Quinn Emanuel began a class action on behalf of 5 Boroughs NY Pty Ltd on Aug. 21, 2020.
The lawsuit aims to seek compensation for business losses incurred due to the alleged negligence in the management of the hotel quarantine program in Victoria.
“The Plaintiff contends that the First Defendant, the State of Victoria, is vicariously liable. The Defendants deny the claims made against them and are defending the class action,” the Supreme Court notice states.
‘We Ceased Being a Democracy’: Abbott
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently voiced concerns about Australia no longer being a democracy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He expressed fears that without a royal commission, Australians could face years of lockdowns again. Mr. Abbott told Sky News Australia that the policy response to COVID-19 ended up being worse than the disease itself.
“And when you go back and look at this honestly and dispassionately, you’d have to say that the first mistake that governments made was throwing out the carefully prepared pandemic plans that we all had in panic in early March 2020 because of the dire photos coming out of overwhelmed Italian hospitals,” Mr. Abbott said.
COVID-19 Quarantine Charges Dropped
On the other hand, charges regarding COVID-19 hotel quarantine against the Victorian Department of Health were recently dropped due to a loophole.
Victoria’s second COVID-19 wave resulted in 800 deaths, with 99 percent linked back to workers at quarantine hotels, as per the state’s hotel quarantine inquiry.
However, charges were dismissed after evidence from 10 key health department witnesses was deemed inadmissible in the Victorian County Court.
In September 2021, WorkSafe Victoria charged the health department with 58 alleged “breaches” of the Occupational Health and Safety Act related to hotel quarantine.
This followed a 15-month investigation involving the review of tens of thousands of documents, including evidence submitted to the hotel quarantine inquiry.
However, in March 2023, a magistrate determined there was enough evidence to “support a conviction” and the Department of Health was committed to stand trial, according to WorkSafe.
After this committal, the health department sought a ruling on the admissibility of evidence based on a reading of the Inquiries Act 1980.
The county court ruled in favor of the Department of Health on April 9 to exclude relevant evidence under Section 80 of the Inquiries Act, which states that evidence produced in a board of inquiry cannot be used in other proceedings.
The Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) did not appeal this court ruling.
‘Nobody Will Be Held Accountable’: Pesutto
Following the decision, Victorian Liberal Opposition leader John Pesutto voiced concern that nobody will be held accountable for the loss of 800 lives from hotel quarantine.
Mr. Pesutto mentioned he “can’t quite connect the dots” and called for transparency on any other reasons for the decision.
“Victorians will never forget the loss of life on such a huge scale at the time and they would certainly hope that there’s a proper basis for this decision.”
He expressed that many Victorians will be questioning why no one is being held accountable for “one of the worst disasters” in Victoria’s recent history.
“Someone’s got to be accountable to someone, somewhere. And it just seems under this government, whatever it is, no one is held accountable for anything,” he concluded.
In response to the dropped charges, WorkSafe Victoria expressed disappointment in the prosecutors’ decision to discontinue criminal proceedings.
