Freedom of expression and assembly are being threatened in several jurisdictions by crackdowns on protest
and heightened police powers, with over-policed groups, notably Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Peoples, most exposed.185 This has been highlighted by Black Lives Matter and Aboriginal Lives Matter
protests, which have occurred across Australia. 186 As the NGO Report highlights, Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Peoples in Australia are the most imprisoned people on earth and die at high rates in police
custody.187 Relatively limited data about the use of police emergency powers has been made public, but
what has been released appears to indicate discrimination and significant overstep. 188 The use of COVID-19
powers to prevent protests is a growing area of human rights concern, particularly given community
transmission in Australia is relatively low. The proportionality of these measures and the extent to which they
curtail democratic freedoms needs to be monitored.
DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 MEASURES
Physical lockdown measures have had acute human rights implications for certain groups, in particular,
people isolated in ‘pressure cooker’ environments, such as places of detention, 189 nursing homes, and in
overcrowded, violent or unsafe homes. For example, people living in institutions are at far higher risk of
infection, and at the same time, institutional living arrangements for people with disability and older people
have exposed individuals to other forms of harm, including restrictive practices under the guise of public
health measures.190 In addition, Australia has not followed public health advice about releasing people in
immigration detention, people imprisoned for low level offending, and people on remand, creating genuine
fears for the safety and well-being of detained people.191
Of significant concern is that, without regular engagement in school, work and the community, domestic
violence and abuse of women, children and older people has been hidden and seeking help has been
difficult.192 The Government must invest in specialist domestic and family violence services to respond to the
increased need.193
COVID-19 has exacerbated existing inequalities in Australia - as outlined in the NGO Report. Inequalities
experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Islander Peoples in areas such as health outcomes, severe and forced
housing overcrowding, employment and income and the highest incarceration rate in the world - the result of
colonisation and discrimination - significantly increase the threat of death and severe illness from COVID-19
to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. 194 As recommended throughout the NGO report, these
inequalities and injustices must be urgently addressed.
The gendered impact of the COVID-19 health and economic crises is also of significant concern. For
example, jobs held by women have decreased by 8.1%, compared to a 6.2% decrease for men.195In addition
to an expected increase in gender-based violence, physical lockdowns have reinforced and exacerbated the
unequal gender distribution of unpaid care and restricted women’s access to sexual and reproductive health
services and products.196
In addition, there is concern that children with disabilities unable to engage in remote learning will be further
behind their peers than they were before,197 and that remote learning has further disadvantaged children
from economically and socially disadvantaged households.198 There is also concern about long term harm to
educational, training and employment outcomes for young people. 199
ECONOMIC IMPACT
There have been a range of positive, but temporary, policy measures including:
measures to reduce or mitigate tenancy evictions - these have varied across jurisdictions 200;
measures to provide a wage subsidy to keep people in work;
measures to increase access to, and the amount of, social security payments, in particular for
people on youth, unemployment and parenting payments; and
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