Superseded - Home Confinement, Movement and Gathering Direction (No. 6)

This direction has been superseded by the Movement and Gathering Direction (No. 12)

Direction from Chief Health Officer in accordance with emergency powers arising from the declared public health emergency

Public Health Act 2005 (Qld)

Section 362B

On 29 January 2020, under the Public Health Act 2005, the Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services made an order declaring a public health emergency in relation to coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The public health emergency area specified in the order is for ‘all of Queensland’. Its duration has been extended by regulation to 17 August 2020 and may be further extended.

Further to this declaration, l, Dr Jeannette Young, Chief Health Officer, reasonably believe it is necessary to give the following direction pursuant to the powers under s 362B of the Public Health Act 2005 to assist in containing, or to respond to, the spread of COVID-19 within the community.

Preamble

  1. This Public Health Direction replaces the Public Health Direction referred to as the Home Confinement, Movement and Gathering Direction (No. 5) given on 14 May 2020.
  2. This Public Health Direction is to be read in conjunction with other Public Health Directions issued under section 362B of the Public Health Act 2005 that have not expired or been revoked.

Citation

  1. This Public Health Direction may be referred to as the Home Confinement, Movement and Gathering Direction (No. 6).

Revocation

  1. The Home Confinement, Movement and Gathering Public Health Direction (No. 5) given on 14 May 2020 is revoked effective from the time of publication of this direction.

PART 1 — DIRECTION – HOME CONFINEMENT, MOVEMENT AND GATHERING

  1. This direction applies from the time of publication until the end of the declared public health emergency, unless it is revoked or replaced, except for the purposes in paragraph 6(ka) which commences at the time stated in that paragraph.

Home Confinement requirements in Queensland

  1. A person who resides in Queensland must not leave their principal place of residence except for, and only to the extent reasonably necessary to accomplish, the following permitted purposes:
    1. to obtain food or other essential goods or services, except for seated dining in accordance with the Non-Essential Business, Activity and Undertaking Closure Direction (No. 10) or its successor ;

      Note – Seated dining is included as part of the definition of ‘recreation’ and is dealt with in paragraph 6(d) below.

    2. to obtain medical treatment or other health care services;
    3. to engage in physical exercise;
    4. for recreation:
      1. by a local who resides in the Outback, within 500km of the person’s principal place of residence, but only within the Outback; or
      2. by a person who does not reside in the Outback, within 150km of the person’s principal place of residence, but the person may not enter the Outback;
    5. to perform work or volunteering, or carry out or conduct an essential business, activity or undertaking, and the work, business activity or undertaking to be performed is of a nature that cannot reasonably be performed from the person’s principal place of residence;
    6. to visit another person’s residence in accordance with paragraph 9;
    7. to visit a terminally ill relative or to attend a funeral, wedding, small religious ceremony or to engage in private worship at a place of worship subject to any applicable restrictions under other relevant Public Health Directions;
    8. to provide assistance, care or support to an immediate family member;
    9. to attend any court or tribunal of Australia or to comply with or give effect to orders of the court or tribunal of Australia;
    10. to attend a childcare facility;
    11. to attend university, or other educational institution, to the extent instruction cannot reasonably be obtained in the person’s principal place of residence;
    • from 12.01 am on Monday 11 May 2020 to attend community kindergarten, Prep, Year 1, Year 11 or Year 12 of schooling and from 12.01 am on Monday 25 May 2020 to attend Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 or Year 10 of schooling;
    1. to assist with or participate in an investigation or other action by a law enforcement authority, whether voluntarily or not;
    2. for children under 18 years who do not live in the same household as their biological parents or siblings or one of their parents or siblings, continuing existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children and siblings, but not allowing access or contact with vulnerable groups or persons;

      Example of a vulnerable group or person – a person over 70 years or a person with a medical condition that makes them vulnerable to COVID-19

    3. avoiding injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm;

      Example – escaping a risk of harm related to domestic and family violence or accessing support from a domestic and family violence support service

    4. to comply with or give effect to the exercise of a power or function of a government agency or entity under a law.

Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 persons or with members of household

  1. A person who leaves their principal place of residence for a permitted purpose under paragraph 6 may be accompanied by members of their household or, alternatively, by up to nine other people.
  2. A maximum of 10 people can gather publicly regardless of whether people are members of the same household or not.

Receiving visitors at a residence

  1. Subject to paragraphs 10 to 12, a person who is an owner, resident, tenant, occupier, temporary occupier or person in control of a residence may allow up to five visitors who are not ordinarily members of the person’s household.

    Note – The five visitors can be from up to five different households.

  2. Paragraph 9 does not prevent workers or volunteers entering a place of residence and they are not counted as visitors for the purpose of paragraph 9.
  3. Paragraph 9 does not apply to a residential aged care facility, corrective services facility, detention centre or an approved family day care service or stand-alone care service. Paragraph 9 does not apply to a family day care service or stand-alone care service only for the purposes of conducting a business.

    Note – The Aged Care Direction (No. 3) given on 8 May 2020 and the Corrective Services Facility Direction given on 22 March 2020 restrict visitors to those facilities. Other Public Health Directions may be made applying to other types of facilities.

  4. An owner, resident, tenant, occupier, temporary occupier or person in control of premises, including a residence, must take reasonable steps to encourage occupants of, and visitors to, the premises to practise social distancing to the extent reasonably practicable.

Gatherings of up to 10 persons in non-residences

  1. A person who owns, controls or operates premises, other than a residence, must not organise or allow a gathering to occur on the premises.

Exemptions

  1. The Queensland Chief Health Officer may grant an exemption to part or all of these directions on compassionate grounds or for other exceptional circumstances.

Social Distancing

  1. A person who is leaving their principal place of residence must practice social distancing while outside their principal place of residence, to the extent reasonably practicable.

Self-quarantine and self-isolation

  1. A person who is required to self-quarantine or self-isolate under another Public Health Direction or a direction of an emergency officer under the Public Health Act 2005, must comply with the terms of the direction to self-quarantine or self-isolate and may not leave the premises in which they are self-quarantining or self-isolating unless permitted under the terms of those orders or directions.

Designated Areas

  1. Nothing in this direction authorises a person to enter a designated area under the Restricted Access to Designated Areas Direction, or its successor, unless the person is an exempt person as defined under that direction.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Public Health Direction:

  1. Approved family day care service has the same meaning as in the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) and stand-alone care service has the same meaning as ‘stand-alone service’ under the Education and Care Services Act 2013.
  2. Corrective services facility has the same meaning as in the Corrective Services Act 2006.
  3. Detention centre has the same meaning as in the Youth Justice Act 1992.
  4. Essential business, activity or undertaking means a business, activity or undertaking that is not prohibited by the Non-Essential Business, Activity and Undertaking Closure Direction (No. 10), or its successor, or another Public Health Direction.
  5. Essential goods or services means good or services obtained from an essential business, activity or undertaking.
  6. Gathering, subject to paragraph 24, means:
    1. a gathering of more than 10 persons in a single undivided outdoor space at the same time; or
    2. a gathering of more than 10 persons in a single undivided indoor space at the same time.
  7. Gathering does not include a gathering:
    1. at an airport that is necessary for the normal business of the airport;
    2. for the purposes of or related to public transportation, including in vehicles or at public transportation facilities such as stations, platforms and stops;
    3. at a medical or health service facility that is necessary for the normal business of the facilities;
    4. for the purposes of emergency services;
    5. at a residential aged care facility or residence of a person with a disability, that is necessary for the normal business of the facility or residence;
    6. at a prison, corrective services facility, detention centre or other place of custody;
    7. at a court or tribunal;
    8. at Parliament for the purpose of its normal operations;
    9. at a business, facility or service providing essential goods or services that is necessary for the normal business or operation of the business, facility or service to the extent permitted under the Non-Essential Business, Activity and Undertaking Closure Direction (No. 10), or its successor, or another Public Health Direction;

      Example – wedding, funeral, accommodation facilities, retail store, shopping centre

    10. at a workplace, including but not limited to an office building, factory, manufacturing facility, resource extraction, mine or mineral processing facility, utilities or construction sites that is necessary for the normal operation of those premises;
    11. at a school, university, educational institution or childcare facility, including a family day care service or stand-alone care service, that is necessary for the normal business of the facility;
    12. at an outdoor place where persons may be present for the purposes of transiting through the place;

      Example – Queen Street Mall

    13. at an indoor place where persons may be present for the purposes of transiting through the place;

      Example – Central Station

    14. at a public artificial lagoon, in accordance with a COVID SAFE Plan approved by the Chief Health Officer;
    15. specified as exempt from this direction by the Chief Health Officer in writing.
  8. Household means persons who ordinarily live at the same residence, including if family or kinship customs or cultural obligations have the effect of a person living across multiple residences.
  9. Indoor space means an area, room or premises that is or are substantially enclosed by a roof and walls, regardless of whether the roof or walls or any part of them are:
    1. permanent or temporary; or
    2. open or closed.
  10. Local means a person whose principal place of residence is in the Outback or a person who is performing work or volunteering in the Outback under paragraph 6(e).

    Example – a fly-in fly-out worker, a seasonal worker, contractor or locum.

  11. Outback means the areas of Queensland listed in Schedule 1 of this Direction.
  12. Outdoor space means a space that is not an indoor space.
  13. Premises has the same meaning as in Schedule 2 of the Public Health Act 2005, and also includes land and vessels.
  14. Principal place of residence means:
    1. for a person who permanently resides in Queensland, the residence where the person ordinarily resides.
    2. for a person who temporarily resides in Queensland, the residence where the person ordinarily resides when the person in present in Queensland.
  15. Recreation means an activity engaged in for pleasure or for mental health benefits, including:
    1. motorcycle riding, jet skiing, boating and other forms of personalised transport;
    2. driving a motor vehicle, including for a learner driver to accumulate driving hours to comply with logbook requirements for the learner driver’s practical driving test, but the learner driver may only be supervised by a member of the learner driver’s household;
    3. shopping at a place permitted to remain open under the Non-Essential Business, Activity and Undertaking Closure Direction (No. 10) or its successor;
    4. having a picnic in a park or public space that remains open under the Non-Essential Business, Activity and Undertaking Closure Direction (No. 10) or its successor;
    5. seated dining in accordance with the Non-Essential Business, Activity and Undertaking Closure Direction (No. 10) or its successor.

    However, recreation does not include overnight stays except for people travelling for recreation in the Outback who may stay away from their place of residence for multiple nights.

  16. Residence means premises used, or intended to be used, as a dwelling or mainly as a dwelling, and includes the land on which the residence is situated, and includes:
    1. a single detached dwelling;
    2. each of one or more attached dwellings that are separated by a common wall;

      Examples for paragraph (b) — villa unit, townhouse, terrace house, row house, unit in an apartment block.

    3. a manufactured home as defined in section 10 of the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003;
    4. a caravan as defined in section 7 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008;
    5. any other building or structure situated on the same land as the premises or dwelling.

      Examples for paragraph (e) – shed, pool house, carport, granny flat. But does not include a corrective services facility or detention centre.

  17. Residence does not include a residential aged care facility, corrective services facility or detention centre.
  18. Residential aged care facility means a facility at which accommodation, and personal care or nursing care or both, are provided to a person in respect of whom a residential care subsidy or a flexible care subsidy is payable under the Aged Care Act 1997 of the Commonwealth.
  19. Resident has the meaning given in section 14 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.
  20. Social distancing includes remaining at least 1.5 metres away from other persons, regular washing of hands and avoiding handshaking.
  21. Tenant has the meaning given in section 13 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

PART 2 - PENALTIES

A person to whom the direction applies commits an offence if the person fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with the direction.

Section 362D of the Public Health Act 2005 provides:

Failure to comply with public health directions

  • A person to whom a public health direction applies must comply with the direction unless the person has a reasonable excuse.
  • Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.

Dr Jeannette Young
Chief Health Officer

19 May 2020

Published on the Queensland Health website 19 May 2020 at 5:26 pm

Schedule 1

For the purposes of this Direction, the following areas of Queensland are the Outback:

  • Balonne Shire Council
  • Banana Shire Council
  • Barcaldine Regional Council
  • Barcoo Shire Council
  • Blackall–Tambo Regional Council
  • Boulia Shire Council
  • Bulloo Shire Council
  • Carpentaria Shire Council
  • Central Highlands Regional Council
  • Cloncurry Shire Council
  • Croydon Shire Council
  • Diamantina Shire Council
  • Etheridge Shire Council
  • Flinders Shire Council
  • Longreach Regional Council
  • Maranoa Regional Council
  • McKinlay Shire Council
  • Mount Isa City Council
  • Murweh Shire Council
  • Paroo Shire Council
  • Quilpie Shire Council
  • Richmond Shire Council
  • Winton Shire Council

Last updated: 31 May 2020