- Introduction
About the inquiry
1.1On 15 September 2022, the Committee resolved to undertake an inquiry into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) crisis management arrangements, based on matters contained in Auditor-General Report No. 39 2021–22 Overseas Crisis Management and Response: The Effectiveness of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Management of the Return of Overseas Australians in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
1.2On 20 September 2022, the Committee issued a media release announcing the inquiry and inviting submissions. The Committee also invited a submission from DFAT as the audited agency. The inquiry received three submissions and two supplementary submissions, listed at Appendix A. A public hearing was held on 16December 2022. A list of witnesses and organisations that appeared at the hearing is at Appendix B.
1.3A copy of this report, transcript of the public hearing and submissions received are available at the Committee’s website at https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Public_Accounts_and_Audit/DFATcrisismanagement.
Report outline
1.4This chapter provides background on the inquiry, including a brief summary of the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic that led to border closures and Australians being stranded overseas. It then outlines the Australian Government’s crisis management framework, under which DFAT provided assistance to return Australians from overseas who were struggling to get flights due to the pandemic.
1.5Chapter 2 considers the Auditor-General report under inquiry, reviews the evidence received by the Committee and outlines the Committee’s concluding comments and recommendations.
Overseas Australians during COVID-19
1.6COVID-19 is an infectious respiratory disease that emerged in late 2019 and became a global pandemic. In Australia, COVID-19 was listed as a disease of pandemic potential under the Biosecurity Act 2015 on 21 January 2020, and declared a human biosecurity emergency by the Governor-General on 18 March 2020.
1.7In response to the pandemic, and alongside other countries, the Australian Government began introducing travel restrictions to stem the flow of international arrivals in early 2020. Country-specific restrictions were implemented in February and early March 2020. From 9pm on 20 March 2020, the Australian Government closed its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents. From 28 March 2020, all international arrivals were required to quarantine for 14 days at designated hotels or other facilities at their port of entry.
1.8State and territory governments led the determination of designated facilities and enforcement of quarantine requirements, with the support of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Australian Border Force (ABF) where necessary. On 10 July 2020, following discussions with state and territory governments, the Australian Government introduced caps on passenger arrivals at major international airports to alleviate pressure on hotel quarantine programs. A timeline of key events is included in Appendix C.
1.9Border closures and travel restrictions in Australia, and around the world, led to significant disruptions in travel plans and international air traffic, reducing options for Australians seeking to return to Australia using commercial airlines. In March 2020, DFAT estimated there were around 879,000 Australians abroad, with the largest numbers in New Zealand (119,900) and Indonesia (108,067). This is an aggregate figure which does not specifically relate to the number of Australians seeking repatriation assistance at that point.
1.10The Australian Government activated the standing arrangements under its crisis management framework to guide its response to the pandemic. A component of this framework is the repatriation of Australians and other approved foreign nationals, as indicated in the next section.
Whole-of-government crisis management framework
1.11The Australian Government Crisis Management Framework (AGCMF), administered by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), sets out standing arrangements for coordinating whole-of-government emergency responses within the Australian Government. The AGCMF was last updated in November 2022 (version 3.2) to reflect the updated administrative arrangements, including the establishment of the National Emergency Management Agency. The version of the framework in place at the time of the pandemic was version 2.2, which had been updated in December 2017. This report refers to the current version (version 3.2), unless a specific reference to the previous version is necessary.
1.12Under the AGCMF, DFAT is the lead agency for response and recovery in an international crisis, which is defined as:
An international incident that requires an Australian Government response. This may include natural disasters, humanitarian crises, terrorist acts, major transport incidents, civil unrest, overseas health emergencies or outbreaks, kidnapping of Australians overseas and chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents which impact or may impact Australians or Australia’s national interest.
1.13The role of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, supported by the department, is outlined in the AGCMF as follows:
- Maintain international relations with foreign governments and/or international agencies.
- Issue/update travel advice.
- Provide advice to Government on numbers of affected Australians overseas.
- Provide consular assistance to Australians and Permanent Residents (crisis only), including citizens of consular partners.
- Deploy additional Australian Government resources and/or state based expertise, as required (in consultation with relevant ministers).
- Approve evacuation of foreign nationals, as required (in consultation with relevant ministers including the Minister responsible for Home Affairs, Defence, and states and territories).
- Approve the repatriation of injured and deceased Australians and other approved foreign nationals (in consultation with the Minister responsible for Home Affairs, Defence and Health).
- Activate financial assistance packages, including humanitarian funding to countries affected by international crises.
- Other ministers who may be involved in responses to international crises include those responsible for: Emergency Management, Home Affairs, Health, Defence, Cyber Security, and Communications.
- In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, DFAT's role included issuing and updating travel advice, providing Australians overseas with access to flights to return to Australia, and financial assistance. This inquiry focused on the latter two aspects of DFAT’s role, as examined in the Auditor-General’s report.