Investigation into the detention and treatment of public housing residents arising from a COVID-19 ‘hard lockdown’ in July 2020

Report by Deborah Glass. Victorian Ombudsman. December 2020.

Report by Deborah Glass. Victorian Ombudsman.

December 2020.

On 4 July 2020 about 3,000 residents of nine inner-Melbourne public housing towers were detained by the State. They received no advance notice or explanation of a direction to stay in their often-crowded high-rise homes without outside space. Images of their distress flashed on television screens around the world. The lockdown worked — halting the rapid growth of COVID-19 cases within the building. But in my opinion the detention of residents on 4 July 2020 appears to have been contrary to law.

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