Assessing the Performance of Australian Federalism in Responding to the Pandemic

This article provides a comprehensive evaluation of the federalism-implicated aspects of Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article’s research question is: to what extent was Australia’s federal structure responsible for the relative successes and failures of the national pandemic response? The method chosen to answer this question is largely theoretical, supplemented by aspects of institutional and policy analysis. That is to say, the inquiry identifies what were widely considered to be important policies, and considers the extent to which the formulation and implementation of those policies was furthered or hindered by the institutions and relations forming Australia’s federal structure. Five policy areas are considered, namely: the National Cabinet; social distancing and related policies; international travel and quarantine; interstate travel; and cities and local government. The conclusions reached are that a number of policy responses achieved federalism’s objectives of enhancing local decision-making power, increasing state and federal cooperation, and cabining policy failure. While Australia’s was not an unmitigated success story, on the whole the pandemic galvanized and reinvigorated Australia’s federal structure and institutions.