2020 award recipients

From late March 2020, the Queensland Government rolled out successive economic relief measures to support Queensland businesses, protect jobs and safeguard the economy during COVID-19. The Office of State Revenue (OSR) was responsible for implementing and administering a number of these measures, specifically targeted at lessening the impact on local businesses and keeping Queenslanders employed. These included:

• $950 million in payroll tax relief including a two-month refund, three-month holiday, and six-month deferral
• $400 million in land tax relief including a three-month rebate for 2019–20, followed by a three-month deferral for 2020–21 for property owners to be passed onto tenants as rent relief
• grants including a $5000 regional home builder boost and a $25,000 Commonwealth HomeBuilder grant.

OSR successfully gave effect to these measures and redefined expectations around project delivery and innovation timeframes, to deliver crucial financial support to Queenslanders when they needed it most.

The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Taskforce within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Queensland Treasury’s Infrastructure and Economic Resilience division were at the heart of Queensland’s response to the pandemic. With unprecedented, global economic turmoil threatening Queensland’s outward-looking, export-driven economy, the State Government was required to act quickly and decisively.

In partnership, these two teams coordinated the Queensland Government’s economic response, leading development and implementation of industry and community response and recovery measures, valued to date at more than $6 billion (August 2020).

This includes the development of the Queensland Economic Recovery Strategy: Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs. The teams also led the development of the Queensland’s Economic Recovery Plan, released in August 2020.

The strategy and plan enable continued business and industry activity across Queensland, leading to a more resilient economy underpinned by new and sustainable jobs.

The COVID-19 Agriculture Coordination Officers (ACO) Network was initiated by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) to support Queensland farmers and agribusinesses to prepare for, respond to and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. The network is comprised of approximately 100 regional economic development, research, extension and biosecurity staff throughout the state.

ACOs have assisted farmers and agribusinesses access relevant COVID-19 information quickly without having to navigate a myriad of websites, in some cases with limited or no connectivity. They have also played a major role in supporting industry to develop COVID-19 health management plans and manage seasonal workers, along with assisting them to respond to other COVID-19 related issues such as the identification of a COVID-19 positive seasonal worker in Bundaberg.

The ACO network has been successful because of the effective and trusted relationships DAF staff have with their key stakeholders.

The Investment Funding Unit (IFU), Strategic Investment and Asset Management, Department of Transport and Main Roads has contributed to the stimulation of the Queensland economy and helped to create jobs in response to the COVID pandemic.

The IFU team led the development of one accelerated and two new road stimulus packages for government consideration within very demanding deadlines:

• accelerated Roads of Strategic Importance Early Works Package
• Queensland Economic Strategy: Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs
• Australian Government Roads Stimulus Package.

These $1 billion works packages were announced by the Australian and Queensland Governments between April and June 2020.

Altogether, IFU secured more than $1 billion for new road network improvements across Queensland. This funding injection will deliver freight efficiency benefits, improve road safety, sustain local jobs and boost the state’s economy.

Birdie and the Virus is an original storybook developed by Children’s Health Queensland in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to help young children process the emotional impacts of the many social changes going on around them.

Young children are vulnerable to stress and anxiety from COVID-19 because they do not yet have the cognitive understanding, life experience, communication skills, coping strategies and emotional regulation, to process profound disruption to their routines, family life and social connections. With the help of ‘Birdie’, children are reassured they can get through tough times and things will get better.

The book takes children on a journey of recovery from testing for the virus to treatment, while reinforcing the importance of staying home, hand washing and keeping connected with friends during isolation.

The continuity of learning for Queensland students was paramount during the COVID-19 pandemic. When statewide restrictions were introduced, including school closures, the Department of Education’s immediate, innovative response ensured students’ learning was not disrupted. From the start of Term 2, 2020, students and their families could continue learning, no matter their location or access to technology, via the newly developed learning@home website.

Combining the creativity and reach of the Strategic Communication and Engagement branch with the educational expertise of the State Schools Division, the department successfully delivered home-based teaching and learning from kindergarten to Year 10, creating awareness and accessibility to a rapidly-developed suite of comprehensive curriculum programs which were produced, promoted and broadcast in partnership with Queensland’s three major commercial television networks.

Not only was the initiative effective during the initial remote learning timeframe, it has also bolstered the state’s future capacity and capability to deliver education in dynamic, challenging environments.

Towards the end of the first term of school in 2020, it became clear there was an urgent need to enable all Queensland state school students to learn online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Information and Technologies Branch, Department of Education made preparations for a learning at home model that had never before been implemented on such a scale.

The capacity of IT infrastructure was expanded, existing systems enhanced and new online learning tools rolled out across the state in record time, supported by professional development to enable continuation of learning.

Day one, term two started with an extraordinary 1.8 million hits to department servers in less than half an hour, as Queensland families accessed learning@home materials. Staff worked tirelessly to bolster support for the successful delivery of learning at home.

The mental health and wellbeing of young Queenslanders are essential to the state’s successful future, particularly in the response and recovery to COVID-19.

Merrimac State High School has drawn together and synergised the disparate resources to create a student welfare program notable for its proactive approach to the wellbeing of the school community, and particularly its students. Designed to support, empower and connect all community members, the program involves classroom teachers, specialised staff and external providers who contribute their individual expertise through explicit teaching, targeted support and professional services.

The program’s efficacy and flexibility were tested during the COVID-19 shutdown of schools, and its success evidenced by positive and productive student /staff interactions during shutdown, and the seamless transition of students (particularly Year 12s) back to ‘regular’ schooling post shutdown.

The program has received both local and international recognition for the outcomes it has achieved.

Gold Coast Health (GCH) hit the headlines in early 2020 when it became the first health service in Queensland to treat COVID-19 patients. GCH recorded Australia's first natural birth to a COVID-19 positive mother, while GCH Director of Infectious Diseases was seconded to Japan to help patients on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Additionally, one of GCH’s COVID-19 patients was the first person in Australia to come off a ventilator and make a full recovery.

Behind the scenes, the Infection Control and Infectious Disease teams prepared for COVID-19 with meticulous initiatives, in partnership with the Public Health Unit, keeping Queenslanders safe and stopping community transmission.

Processes were streamlined, communication modified, and new actions were devised. These innovations were shared with health services across the state and will be used to save time, money and improve future patient safety and health outcomes for the community.

The impact of mental illness in Queensland has become increasingly apparent, placing significant burden on individuals, communities and the health system. Mental illness affects half of all Queensland adults at some point in their life, and one in five in any given year.

To counter the rise in mental illness, the Strategic Communications Branch (SCB) committed to promoting mental wellness. In January 2020, SCB launched Queensland’s first positive mental wellbeing campaign, Dear Mind, encouraging Queenslanders to engage in protective behaviours to help them build long-term resilience and coping mechanisms, and to act as an important buffer against the risk of mental illness.

It was clear with COVID-19 that Queenslanders' mental health and wellbeing faced increased risk over the coming year. So, with strong evidence to suggest Dear Mind was effectively helping Queenslanders improve their resilience and mental wellbeing, the team rapidly developed a pandemic-specific extension of the campaign, launching in September 2020.

The Metro North COVID-19 Virtual Ward (MNVW) was established in response to scenario planning that was highly suggestive of a substantial increase in patient acuity and activity across the Hospital and Health Services.

The model enabled COVID-19 positive patients to remain in their place of residence for the duration of their designated isolation period whilst receiving safe and holistic care. The MNVW provided patients with symptomatic monitoring consultations and access to support services including social work, pharmacy and a 24/7 clinical deterioration hotline. The service was delivered using telehealth technology and purpose-built IT platforms focused on ensuring patients felt safe and connected at a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

The MNVW worked closely with Metro North Public Health to operationalise their service, drastically reducing the exposure of known Metro North Hospital and Health Services COVID-19 positive patients with health workers, hospital inpatients, families and visitors.

In January 2020, the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) assessed that COVID-19 had the potential to create unprecedented demand for ambulance services in Queensland. Failing to respond to this demand would have created the risk of significant adverse health outcomes for Queenslanders.

In response, the QAS took a unique and agile approach to planning for a potential demand surge. A cross disciplinary team was formed, drawing on the already strong foundations of disaster management capability and pandemic planning within the organisation. The QAS established a strategic planning and response framework which provided the basis upon which innovative and time critical service delivery solutions were formulated and implemented.

Through this unique and agile approach, the QAS successfully navigated the highly unpredictable first phases of COVID-19, leading to exemplary levels of ambulance services, best practice staff safety, seamless integration with the broader Queensland health system and legacy initiatives which will support ambulance services into the future.

The COVID-19 public health emergency has necessitated a whole-of-government response of an unprecedented nature, scale and duration. The centrepiece of the response, and relative success in Queensland in controlling COVID-19, has been the compliance regime implemented by the Queensland Police Service’s (QPS) Taskforce Sierra Linnet to give effect to the objectives of the public health directions made by the Chief Health Officer.

The low case numbers of COVID-19 in Queensland and significantly less severe associated impacts when compared with other Australian jurisdictions is a testament to the outstanding delivery of the QPS’s compliance activities in response to COVID-19. The QPS’s compliance regime coordinated by Taskforce Sierra Linnet has played, and continues to play, a defining role in the containment of the virus in Queensland and keeping Queenslanders safe and healthy.

It has also facilitated public health confidence to ease restrictions within the state and enable the recovery from COVID-19 to commence.

The Department of Housing and Public Works developed an immediate response to COVID-19 for people experiencing homelessness, while also protecting vulnerable people and supporting public health outcomes.

The Emergency Housing Assistance Request (EHAR) system was activated to support at-risk and vulnerable people to access appropriate accommodation to keep them safe, support social-distancing and connect them with relevant support services.

Teams were stood up across Housing and Homelessness Services to manage the transition for those living in congregate care arrangements into self-contained accommodation to minimise COVID-19 community transmission and to adhere to health advice.

Intensive stakeholder management with support services, Members of Parliament, community members, the Mental Health Commission and Queensland Police Service was undertaken throughout this response.

Work will continue for this team to manage the transition of people currently accommodated through the Inner Brisbane Rapid Response from short term accommodation options into longer term accommodation.

In response to the significant risk of COVID-19 to First Nations people, the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DATSIP) and Queensland Health both stood up a First Nations COVID-19 team and worked collaboratively on joint strategies to support remote communities. These processes enabled government agencies to effectively respond based on community decisions and needs, and eventually transition restrictions to align with the rest of the state.

A key part of the COVID-19 team was the DATSIP liaison officers, who were allocated to each community to support them in resolving critical issues impacting First Nations Queenslanders.

Queensland Health’s First Nations COVID-19 response was developed in parallel with the broader mainstream Queensland Health strategies, with oversight by Dr Jeanette Young, Chief Health Officer. Each Hospital and Health Service also established COVID-19 First Nations teams or leads to assist at the local, regional and state level.

In response to COVID-19, the Queensland Government implemented border control measures that included border passes and identification screening to help protect Queensland communities.

State Emergency Services (SES) volunteers provided significant support to the COVID-19 Border Control Operations. They worked alongside operational staff from both the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and the Australian Defence Force, as well as Queensland Fire and Emergency Services staff and volunteers from both the Fire and Rescue Service and Rural Fire Service, to ensure effective and timely operations.

Given extremely short notice, the SES was able to mobilise sufficient resources to support the QPS in a seven-day ongoing operation, demonstrating the flexibility and adaptability of the SES in all hazardous situations.

The world-leading Paddock to Reef Integrated Monitoring, Modelling and Reporting Program promotes land management practices to improve water quality flowing to the Reef.

This innovative program brings together approximately 20 organisations and hundreds of people. Led by the Department of Environment and Science, it involves Australian and Queensland government agencies, industry bodies, regional Natural Resource Management bodies, landholders and research organisations.

The long-term monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement program, based on the best available scientific evidence, has expanded and improved over 10 years. The program integrates monitoring and modelling from the farm paddock to the Reef. It evaluates management practice adoption and effectiveness, catchment condition, pollutant run-off and marine condition.

The program tracks progress towards the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan. Results help determine the success of actions and guide investment priorities and future measures by identifying cost-effective approaches to improving water quality.

The Halifax Bay Wetlands is part of the most diverse and complex mangrove area in Australia, providing essential habitat and a critical role in maintaining water quality adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR).

In early 2019, a project team commenced a project to remove 14 unauthorised, privately-owned fishing structures located on the Halifax Bay Wetlands National Park, and wetlands proposed for national park. The infrastructure included sheds, tracks, gates, boat ramps and pontoons which threatened the natural and cultural values including water quality impacts on the GBR and were an impediment to national park expansion.

In a lengthy, complex and challenging consultation effort, the unauthorised fishing huts were successfully removed; as a direct result, the national park is scheduled to nearly triple in size in December 2020, ensuring greater protection of the Halifax Bay Wetlands adjacent to the GBR.

The fully implemented Land Restoration Fund (LRF) is a $500 million long-term commitment to support a sustainable and prosperous agricultural sector and promote innovative, environmental opportunities that will drive land restoration, biodiversity protection and improve water quality.

The LRF invests in land-sector projects undertaken by landholders, land managers and farmers that avoid carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere, or store carbon dioxide in the landscape.

Additionally, LRF projects deliver numerous co-benefits for Queensland communities including:

• creating additional revenue streams for farmers, landholders and First Nations peoples
• boosting regional employment opportunities in the growing carbon farming industry
• protecting native forests
• rehabilitating and revegetating private land
• protecting Queensland's biodiversity
• preventing soil erosion and run-off
• improving the condition of wetlands
• enhancing water quality and critically helping protect the Great Barrier Reef.

After four years of policy development, stakeholder engagement and communications work by the Department of Environment and Science’s Office of the Great Barrier Reef, Environmental Services and Regulation Division, Corporate Services and Science and Technology divisions, strengthened Reef protection regulations to limit water pollution, commenced on 1 December 2019.

The regulations fulfil a key commitment of the government, responding directly to the science and recommendations of the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce on how best to tackle the Reef water quality problem.

The project involved a complex range of activities from understanding the science of sediment and nutrient pollution and the identification and analysis of regulatory options; to peak stakeholder group consultation, regulatory impact assessment and two public consultation processes. It involved the drafting of new and novel legislation, preparation of supporting mapping and associated rules, drafting technical farm practice standards, establishing a new permit approach for new cropping, subordinate legislation processes and communications.

Metro North Hospital and Health Service is Australia’s largest health service and has played a major role in Queensland’s response to COVID-19 by taking responsibility for the health of more than one million Queenslanders, including the airport and seaport, during the pandemic. The results have been impressive with cutting edge technologies underpinning its response.

Digital Metro North was able to quickly adapt and respond to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic by building digital foundations, transforming patient care and reimagining the future to support patients, staff and the community.

Digital Metro North’s response, enabled by the Digital Metro North Strategy, involved developing a suite of technology solutions implemented to support the health service:

• Horizon 1 Digitising our workflows: developing the Screening Outcome Notification system
• Horizon 2 Data and analytics: developing the Digital COVID-19 App (DCoVA)
• Horizon 3 Innovation: transitioning to virtual care and manufacturing personal protective equipment.

By collaborating with the community, the collection of more than 18,000 headbands in three weeks was made possible, and as a result, their 3D printed face shields boosted the nation’s supply of PPE and ensured that frontline healthcare workers were equipped to care for the community during COVID-19.

In March, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet established the multidisciplinary, cross-agency COVID-19 Response and Recovery Taskforce, charged with leading a robust whole-of-government response to COVID-19.

The taskforce was instrumental in delivering:

• the Roadmap to Easing Restrictions which guided millions of Queenslanders in the staged reduction of restrictions
• Queensland’s Economic Recovery Strategy and Queensland’s Economic Recovery Plan in collaboration with Queensland Treasury
• the COVID Safe Business Framework that allowed the safe re-opening of thousands of businesses
• strategic coordination of PPE and assurance review to ensure availability for critical frontline public service roles
• support for behaviour change and compliance with restrictions through public information campaigns and information.

The taskforce continues to respond to and anticipate future needs resulting from COVID-19. Scenario planning is being undertaken and plans are in place to ensure the taskforce can rapidly upscale and respond should an outbreak or second wave occur. The team will apply all the knowledge gained so far in the pandemic to better support government to take agile and decisive action to protect the health and safety of Queenslanders and the state’s economy.

As the COVID-19 pandemic response severely restricted the movement of people and goods into, out of, and across Australia, many Queensland industries experienced problems securing supplies. The Queensland Government’s priority was to maintain the supply of essential services and goods such as personal protective equipment (PPE), food and groceries.

Queensland Treasury devised an unprecedented cross-agency, cross-industry approach, establishing a new Essential Goods Supply Committee with more than 150 government and industry stakeholders to identify supply impacts, immediate response needs and solutions.

Through ongoing collaboration, the committee implemented an innovative strategy that boosted business confidence, responded to supply issues in remote and Indigenous communities, and supported responses to emerging demand of essential PPE. Urgent reforms to legislation also allowed businesses more flexibility to meet changing operational needs.

As a result, supply chains for essential goods and services have been maintained throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and key learnings will inform future disaster preparedness.

Queensland’s tourism and events industry was one of the sectors hardest hit by the impacts of COVID-19. Despite not being a frontline service delivery agency, the Department of State Development, Tourism and Innovation (DSDTI), together with Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), quickly pivoted into crisis response mode, engaging with hundreds of tourism operators, understanding their needs and linking them to support programs.

A sustainable way forward was forged for both the short-term rebound and the long-term recovery of the sector. This included sustaining proactive engagement and response measures, investing in tourism infrastructure, boosting aviation and marketing Queensland as a COVID Safe state.

Under the Queensland Economic Recovery Strategy: Unite and Recover, DSDTI pivoted investment in infrastructure and experiences to rapidly design, develop and deliver funding packages to the tourism industry.

DSDTI and TEQ continue to work with the tourism sector, as conditions change and evolve on the local, national and international front to ensure Queensland has the sustainability to adapt, transition and transform to a destination of choice for visitor markets as they return.

Gold Coast Health (GCH) hit the headlines in early 2020 when it became the first health service in Queensland to treat COVID-19 patients. GCH recorded Australia's first natural birth to a COVID-19 positive mother, while GCH Director of Infectious Diseases was seconded to Japan to help patients on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Additionally, one of GCH’s COVID-19 patients was the first person in Australia to come off a ventilator and make a full recovery.

Behind the scenes, the Infection Control and Infectious Disease teams prepared for COVID-19 with meticulous initiatives, in partnership with the Public Health Unit, keeping Queenslanders safe and stopping community transmission.

Processes were streamlined, communication modified, and new actions were devised. These innovations were shared with health services across the state and will be used to save time, money and improve future patient safety and health outcomes for the community.

The 2019–20 bushfire season, known as Operation Redux, is prefaced by the events and lessons of the concurrent heatwave and bushfire events which unfolded during 2018–19 Operation Synergy. Queensland faced unprecedented bushfire conditions in 2018 and 2019, with record breaking temperatures, catastrophic fire weather ratings, low humidity, high winds and long-term drought affected areas. Operation Redux commenced on 1 August 2019 and ceased on 31 January 2020.

Queensland experienced a challenging start to the season, with the Sarabah, Peregian Springs and Stanthorpe bushfires in September 2019 and this continued with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services’ (QFES) attendance at more than 8000 bushfire incidents during the season and more than 7.7 million hectares burnt. The community impact has been significant, with 49 homes destroyed and devastating effects on businesses and the environment.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, QFES, through activation of the State Disaster Coordination Centre, has activated logistical and planning operations response. QFES was tasked as a direct result of its experience, knowledge and capabilities in disaster management and emergency response, which has resulted in QFES taking a lead role in logistics and planning for the COVID-19 response.

These activities commenced in February 2020, are ongoing and are expected to be required for the duration of the pandemic. The team members in responding to this pandemic have successfully navigated unchartered whole-of-government agency responses to uphold and enhance the safety of Queensland community members.