Ombudsman Finds Vic Border Permits Were “Inhumane” With More Than 30,000 Applications Denied

The Victorian Ombudsman has found that the state’s border permit exemption scheme during 2021 lockdowns was “unjust” and “inhumane” as thousands of people turned away.

The scheme was put in place when Victoria closed its border with NSW on July 9. It was designed to provide people in extreme or extenuating circumstances permission to enter as Sydney’s Delta outbreak was kicking off.

But a report following the investigation read in Victorian Parliament on Tuesday revealed only a measly eight per cent of the more than 33,000 applications were granted, or around 2600.

Ombudsman Deborah Glass said she believed the system was designed rather to block people from Sydney from entering. She has recommended that the government publicly acknowledge the distress caused to affected people.

“The result [of the scheme] was some of the most questionable decisions I have seen in my over seven years as Ombudsman,” she said.

Glass said the Department of Health staff responsible for categorising or prioritising applications were expected to complete 50 an hour — which is about one every 30 goddamn seconds.

The team in place when the border closed in July only consisted of 20 people at first, before it grew to 285 by September. 

“The overwhelming majority of applications did not get to a decision-maker at all, and the guidance did not change even as case numbers in Victoria grew and the risks evolved,” she said. 

Applications were submitted on the basis of requiring medical treatment, care for family members or start a new job or for compassionate reasons such as attending a funeral or being with terminally ill relatives.

Each applicant had to provide an extreme amount of paperwork and supporting  evidence to prove their case, but more often than not it wasn’t enough.

One fully vaccinated Victorian was denied entry several times to receive home treatment for her pancreatic cancer, despite providing the required medical documentation and letters from doctors. 

“The effect of a complex and constrained bureaucracy meant some outcomes were downright unjust, even inhumane,” Glass said.

“People felt caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare.”

In Parliament, Glass didn’t criticise the border closure based on public health advice, but the lack of discretion. 

“People’s anguish when they spoke to us was palpable,” she said.

“I recognise that the Department of Health’s intentions were to protect people in Victoria from a dangerous virus that had already seeded through cross-border incursion and that the department was under enormous pressure dealing with the exigencies of the public health emergency.”

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