How Australia survives a future pandemic will be reliant on whether the Government can rebuild trust in the community.
A new report from the Melbourne-based Burnett medical institute found the Government may not be able to rely on people adhering to stringent public health restrictions, such as those imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the future.
Study author Shanti Narayanasamy said there was need for Governments to rebuild trust and prioritise assistance for priority communities ahead of future pandemics.
“Planning for future pandemics should be focused on rebuilding trust, social cohesion and the social contract between the government and the people it serves,” Dr Narayanasamy said.
She said last year’s COVID-19 Response Inquiry emphasised the importance of rebuilding trust and resilience with priority communities who were most impacted by the pandemic and related public health measures.
“The Inquiry found public health restrictions affected priority populations disproportionately, particularly Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, children, and individuals in residential aged care.”
Dr Narayanasamy said the study also emphasised the need to integrate social sciences into the future Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC), which the federal government had committed to establishing.
“We believe social scientists should be embedded in the future Australian CDC to examine and quantify factors such as trust and resilience,” she said.
“The integration of social sciences with natural sciences and epidemiology is essential to mitigating the negative impacts of future pandemics and related measures on people, particularly priority populations.”
Read the full study: Preparing Australia for future pandemics: strengthening trust, social capital and resilience.
