Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Roberts for the question. From memory, we had quite a discussion at Senate estimates about this and about the process that the department of health went through, working, as I recall, with the Department of Home Affairs to raise concerns around misinformation that was being circulated during, essentially, a national state of emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic. So these are decisions that were taken in the former parliament when the COVID pandemic was at its peak. I think there was agreement that Health had a role in ensuring that information going out was as accurate as it could be but also that it didn't generate unnecessary concerns around the fact that the previous government had taken a decision around a national vaccination program.

I'm not specifically aware of the tweet to which you refer. But that is my understanding of the evidence that was given at estimates—that the department of health did not censor information. Where concerns were brought to their attention, they followed through and worked, from memory, with the Department of Home Affairs around how to manage some of that misinformation to ensure, as much as possible, that information out in the community was accurate about the response from the Australian government at the time.