Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic made a challenging situation almost “impossible to bear” and should be looked at in an inquiry, the peak national employers association says. 

The Albanese government announced a 12-month inquiry into the pandemic in September last year, but the terms of reference does not include individual state and territory decisions including lockdowns.

A Senate inquiry hearing into a proposed COVID-19 royal commission was held on Wednesday, and is separate to the inquiry announced by the government.

Ai Group head of industry development and policy Louise McGrath said her organisation backed examining lockdowns as part of terms of reference for a possible royal commission, to get a complete understanding of the responses to the pandemic.

“That was the element that really had the most impact on our members,” she said.

“The complexity of the shutdowns, the mixed messaging, the lack of communication, lack of consistent and clear communication, made a challenging situation almost impossible to bear.”

Ai group’s submission said state border closures also deserved more attentions that what the inquiry provided.

“These businesses were forced to contend with the most challenging operational environment in living memory,” Ms McGrath said.

“Managing both the impacts of the pandemic and the public health measures put in place to contain it.”

Ai Group said calibrated financial support programs such as JobKeeper were an “essential component” of policy responses for societal disruptions.

Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative director Omar Al-Ani said there were health inequities during the pandemic, with 70 per cent of people dying from COVID-19 during the Delta wave having been born overseas.

People with Disability Australia senior manager of policy Giancarlo de Vera said while the nation took many positive measures to keep people with disability safe during the pandemic, they experienced many infringements on their rights.

The body recommended that the inquiry looked at how people with disability experienced COVID-19 public health measures.

The inquiry is due to report back by the end of March.

By Tess Ikonomou in Canberra