The aim of border measures in the AHMPPI is to delay entry and minimise the spread of a novel influenza virus in Australia until a pandemic vaccine becomes available. Border measures would be implemented in the DELAY phase and their ongoing need would be evaluated when Australia moves to the CONTAIN phase. Border measures are broadly described as comprising both pre-border actions, such as reducing the number of travellers from high-risk areas entering Australia or advising against travel to affected countries, and at-border actions, such as screening to detect infected or high-risk travellers. The AHMPPI acknowledges that border measures will not keep a pandemic out of Australia indefinitely but could, if used in conjunction with other measures, slow its introduction. Furthermore, border measures may help to raise awareness in the travelling public and deter those with infection from travelling.

The Quarantine Act 1908 and state and territory public health and emergency response laws provide wide-ranging powers for actions that may be required in a pandemic.11

The Australian Government, through the Department of Health and Ageing, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, coordinates the implementation of border measures, which include non-automatic pratique12 on arriving international flights, thermal scanners and Health Declaration Cards (HDCs). State and territory health departments are responsible for case management and contact tracing, and for the deployment of border nurses to provide secondary assessment and appropriate management of passengers identified as symptomatic at the border.

The Australian Government has developed the National Pandemic Influenza Airport Border Operations Plan13 (Fluborderplan), which is an operational plan that supports and is consistent with the health response outlined in the AHMPPI. It describes how Commonwealth border agencies, state and territory government bodies and the airline sector will work together in a coordinated national response to protect and respond to the threat of an influenza pandemic. It also outlines the processes to deploy and operate border health measures at designated Australian international airports. The Fluborderplan has been evaluated through a series of exercises at national and jurisdictional levels. Supporting documents have been developed to assist the implementation of border health measures, including the Australian Border Health Measures Guide,14 border agency procedures and work instructions, and state and territory pandemic influenza plans. In addition, training has been provided to border agency personnel on implementing Fluborderplan actions.

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11 See Chapter 1: Governance and Decision Making.
12 The aircraft must report its status in terms of health: that is, it is mandatory to report whether or not there are unwell passengers onboard.
13 Available from www.flupandemic.gov.au/internet/panflu/publishing.nsf/Content/fluborderplan.
14 The Australian Border Health Measures Guide provides an overview table to inform decision makers of available actions and detailed supporting information so that actions can be implemented quickly, consistently and accurately both during normal business and during an emergency.


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Review of Australia’s Health Sector Response to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009: Lessons Identified(PDF 1023 KB)