Australia’s Indigenous peoples account for 3% of the country’s population yet continue to experience disproportionately higher rates of mortality and hospitalization for many infectious diseases.1 The 2009 influenza pandemic had an inequitable impact on Indigenous peoples in Australia,2 New Zealand,3 the Americas and the Pacific.4 Genuine and tangible actions that include Indigenous peoples in the planning and response for pandemic influenza is overdue. This paper will identify some of the strategies to incorporate the perspectives of Australia’s Indigenous peoples (hereafter Aboriginal) in planning and responding to infectious disease emergencies.

The Queensland Border Restrictions Direction (No. 56) was introduced in December 2021 as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. We assessed direction compliance among new and returning Queensland residents. A registered COVID-19 PCR test could be identified for 58% of people, and 89% had received the required vaccines.