At 11 am on 12 March,
there were 126 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia, and
three people had died as a result of the disease. While attorney
general Christian Porter
had warned the week prior that in response to the virus,
certain biosecurity powers may be invoked for the first time.
One of these is the power for an individual
who may have a "listed human disease" to be placed on
a "human biosecurity control order", under the provisions
of the
Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth), as the Director of Biosecurity
determined in January that COVID-19 is a "listed human
disease".
There are a range of requirements that can be imposed upon the
subject of a human biosecurity control order. These include having
to
stay at a place of residence for a period of time, that they
undergo
decontamination or
being restricted from leaving Australian territory for up to 28
days.
