During a three-month period in 2021 (July-September) financial penalties totalling $45,900,180 were imposed on NSW residents by NSW Police for alleged breaches of Ministerial orders made pursuant to the Public Health Act 2010 (NSW). This represented more than 80% of the total value of fines issued from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 to 30 September 2022, when the lifting of the last remaining broad-scale infection control measure (ie mandatory isolation after a positive test) was announced.
The fine burden fell heavily on socio-economically disadvantaged individuals, families and communities, especially in south-western and western Sydney, and western NSW.
This report traces three dimensions of what we describe as a ‘law and order’ response to the public health threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. While present from the beginning of the pandemic, all three intensified during a period of high anxiety starting in June 2021, with the emergence of the Delta variant.
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