The needs of children have not been prioritised in COVID-19 policy and children have faced difficulties regarding their mental health, learning and social life,23 exacerbated by the slow vaccination rollout. This was ‘disproportionately borne by the most vulnerable’ children and families, including those with low income.24 Available reporting indicates that prisoners have lower vaccination rates and limited access to testing, despite prisons being particularly susceptible to COVID-19 outbreaks.25 Insufficient steps were taken to reduce the number of people in immigration detention who did not pose any threat to public safety, despite outbreaks and the high risk of COVID-19.26 By contrast, the UK reduced the number of people held in immigration centres by more than two thirds in March 2020.27 A disproportionate number of deaths from COVID-19 occurred in residential aged care facilities. The Senate Select Committee on COVID 19 found that ‘the crisis in aged care was entirely predictable and — to a large extent — avoidable’.28 The Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 commented that ‘many countries vaccinated people with a disability first. This was not the case in Australia where the government failed to implement strategies which would protect this vulnerable group.’29 The Disability Royal Commission also expressed concern about the treatment of persons with disability living within closed residential settings, finding that steps taken to lockdown facilities or restrict visiting may have reduced formal and informal oversight mechanisms.30 (c) The role of a Human Rights Act The Senate Select Committee on COVID 19 released its final report in April 2022. It made the following key recommendation: All Australian Governments ensure that restrictions enacted to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are proportionate, the minimum necessary intrusion on rights at all times and are removed fully as soon as the public emergency is over.31 The Committee also recommended that the Australian Government urgently review its pandemic planning to deliver immediate improvements including: … 1. a plan for timely repatriation of Australians overseas in the event of border closures or restricted international travel; 2. evaluate the effectiveness of plans for working with and responding appropriately to the needs of vulnerable people during a pandemic and implement updated plans accordingly, including for older Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, people living with disability and children; and 3. principles for addressing related health impacts, including the social determinants of health, mental health service delivery, and ensuring the health and welfare requirements of people experiencing family, domestic, or sexual violence are met.32 If a Human Rights Act had been in place at the federal level at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak, these recommendations would have been built into the decision-making responses of the Federal Government from the outset of the pandemic. 38