Report on a page
In early 2020, the global economic outlook was characterised by uncertainty and volatility and a severe economic downturn was widely expected. In response, the Queensland Government implemented a range of health and economic policies and measures. A key part of the support measures included rapid economic response and recovery initiatives. In September 2020, we provided a broad outline of the government’s activities in response to COVID-19 in our report Queensland Government response to COVID-19 (Report 3: 2020–21).
This audit examines whether the Queensland Government’s COVID-19 economic response and recovery initiatives were designed and managed effectively. We examined the design, delivery, and evaluation of a selection of initiatives. We also looked at central monitoring of the initiatives based on our report Queensland Government response to COVID-19 (Report 3: 2020–21). This audit does not assess the pandemic management or the impacts of decisions on border closures.
Key learnings
The Queensland Government committed $17.2 billion for economic response and recovery, for more than 300 initiatives. These included grants, loans, and state tax relief for both businesses and individuals. These initiatives – together with the containment of the COVID-19 case numbers and economic stimulus from all levels of government – contributed to a faster-than-expected economic recovery through to December 2021.
Given the emergency and the need for a rapid response, it is reasonable to expect there will be lessons for the future. By December 2021, there had been sufficient time for the entities designing and delivering the rapid response initiatives to evaluate their performance and apply relevant learnings to current and new initiatives. We summarise key learnings in Figure A, and our recommendations are on page 2.
Figure A: Learnings for current and future rapid response initiatives
For more information
For more information on the key learnings, recommendations, issues and opportunities highlighted in this report on a page, please see the full report.