What it does
The Public Health Act 2005 (Qld) is the primary Queensland statute for protecting and promoting public health. Its stated object under s 6 is to protect and promote the health of the Queensland public. Section 7 outlines how that object is mainly achieved: by preventing, controlling and reducing risks to public health; providing for the identification and response to notifiable conditions; imposing obligations on persons and health care facilities to minimise infection risks; and enabling responses to public health emergencies.
The Act is structured around twelve chapters, each addressing a distinct regulatory subject matter, from the management of environmental health risks and cooling tower water systems through to infection control in hospitals and clinics, mandatory disease notification, coercive orders for persons with controlled notifiable conditions, vaccination exclusion rules for children, statutory health registers, pollution notices, and the Queensland public health emergency powers exercised extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Section 3 binds the Act to all persons including the State, the Commonwealth and other states to the extent constitutionally permitted, though certain provisions concerning local government public health risks do not bind the State. Critically, s 4 makes clear that a contravention of the Act does not in itself create a civil cause of action.