Australia's new Centre for Disease Control will be established in Canberra

A widely-awaited independent review, released on Tuesday, has advised the federal government to focus on rebuilding public trust after it flagged inconsistent health advice and secrecy as major barriers to its response to future public health emergencies.

The 868-page report was authored by economist Dr Angela Jackson, epidemiologist Catherine Bennett and former senior public servant Robyn Kruk.

It contained 26 actions and nine key recommendations for federal authorities.

"Australians largely did what we asked of them and complied with public health orders which significantly restricted their movements and freedoms," the report said.

"The challenge before us is re-establishing and building trust in government responses prior to any future public health emergency."

The report recommended a series of reforms across the public sector including an uplift in emergency management and planning for a future surge workforce in the next two years.

A critical recommendation, the establishment of a permanent Australian Centre for Disease Control, has been taken up by the federal government with $251.7 million allocated to launch a national agency in Canberra by January 1, 2026.

A location for the CDC has yet to be finalised, meaning a joint proposal by the ACT government and the Australian National University to host it as a lead tenant within ANU's new National Health precinct hangs in the balance.

A proposal for the project, delivered by the federal government and seen by this masthead, said the precinct would "foster engagement and collaboration between centres of excellence around Australia and throughout the world."

ACT Independent Senator David Pocock said he was pleased the government "finally" delivered on its election commitment to establish the CDC, which he has strongly advocated to be located in Canberra.

Senator Pocock said the CDC would "deliver enormous flow on benefits to the people of the ACT especially in helping attract and retain desperately needed specialists."

"There have been concerns that Labor would renege on its commitment and I'm pleased to see them finally deliver in the lead up to the next election," he said.

"ANU created a unique opportunity to house the CDC in part of a new precision health precinct and I hope this is under active consideration."

Finance Minister and ACT Senator Katy Gallagher said having the CDC located in Canberra "is a significant win for our city".

"It's not just a boost for our local economy - supporting hundreds of jobs - but means Australia will be better prepared to manage future public health challenges," Senator Gallagher said.

"As the nation's capital, it is fitting that Canberra has been chosen as the home of this important national organisation."

Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth said having the CDC based locally "is not only the right decision but a fabulous opportunity to develop as the global centre for excellence in pandemic policy."

Dr Coatsworth, who is an infectious disease specialist at Canberra Hospital and has previously flagged political ambitions, also criticised Mr Butler's wider response to the inquiry.

"It's a shame Mark Butler has chosen to politicise this important moment for Australia," he said.

"If we were so underprepared, then how were our institutions able to come together and take the most significant crisis decisions (closing the international borders and jobkeeper) in record time?"

After being made public, Health Minister Mark Butler noted one of the most "striking" findings of the inquiry was Australia's lack of preparedness to deal with a health emergency compared to 2020.

"The Australian Public Service has lost key personnel who learned a lot through that pandemic, but have moved on from their positions, often through exhaustion," Mr Butler said.

"And crucially, this report also says a number of points were made about the lack of real-time evidence-based policy and transparency has driven a large decline in trust"

The report was highly critical of states and territories for a lack of consistency around issues such as lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

It recommended states avoid school closures in the future due to "mixed evidence" and said harsher measures such as enforced quarantine and curfews should be evaluated in real-time to ensure proportionality.

"The fear in the community, and wider impacts on children and young people, could have been mitigated through more proportionate decisions," the report said.

The report also raised concerns with Australia's sluggish vaccine rollout, which came at a direct economic cost estimated at $31 billion.

It urged the government to immediately review the COVID-19 vaccine claims scheme to inform wider use of different treatments and "establish structures" to ensure young people are genuinely engaged in future responses.

Despite navigating a rapidly escalating fallout during the Covid, the report praised the federal government's JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme for maintaining levels of employment.

It said in the future the government should place a stronger focus on "supply" rather than "demand" driven policies in its economic recovery plans to ease inflationary pressures.

"The economic recovery was much stronger than anticipated, reflecting the success of Australia's public health and economic responses and widespread misjudgements as to the strength of demand following the pandemic," it said.