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A Pullman Hotel room near Brisbane Airport that was recently used to house quarantined travellers from Perth,despite its lack of opening windows or a balcony.

One traveller who quarantined in the Pullman Hotel near Brisbane Airport after being caught up in the weekend’s WA border restrictionswhile on a Friday night flight to Brisbane was among those who wrote to the commission.Most have now been released after the lockdown lifted.

Complaints are usually resolved through conciliation but,if not possible and the complainant is unable to take it further to a court or tribunal,the commission can publish reports with recommendations on how human rights can be met in future.

Commissioner Scott McDougall said the QHRC was in constant discussions with Queensland Health and the Queensland Police Service about pandemic measures,including hotel quarantine.

“We are aware that rooms without balconies or opening windows are still in use in Queensland’s quarantine hotels,and[we] continue to receive complaints from people in hotel quarantine,” he said.

“The Queensland government,including[Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young],Queensland Health,and the Queensland Police Service,are well aware of the recommendation we made in October 2020 to cease using rooms with no access to fresh air for hotel quarantine.”

Mr McDougall said the commission was on record as supporting remote quarantine facilities,such as Howard Springs in the Northern Territory,where people in quarantine would have space and access to fresh air,while minimising the risk of infection in metropolitan areas due to leaks from hotel quarantine.

A Toowoomba proposal is still causing tension between the state and federal governments,with the Commonwealth insisting on seeing more details of the proposal,while the stateinsists they have already been provided and that it needs federal government assurances to continue the development process.

Experts have suggested dedicated quarantine facilities are far better at containing infections than hotels because they are purpose built to do so,while hotel rooms can allow cross-contamination,even with strict precautions.

The October human rights case involved a woman “deprived of liberty” in hotel quarantine because her room’s windows did not open and she wasrefused access to fresh air for two weeks.

At the time,Queensland Health said there was a shortage of hotel rooms with open windows or a balcony,making it difficult to make the requirement a “hard rule”.

In response to questions this week,a Queensland Health spokeswoman said the government had worked closely with quarantine hotels throughout the pandemic to ensure the health and safety of all involved.

“Our quarantine policies have evolved as more contagious variants emerged,and they have continued to be successful in keeping COVID-19 out of the community and protecting the lives of Queenslanders,” the spokeswoman said.

“Queensland Health has regularly met with the Queensland Human Rights Commission throughout this pandemic,and will continue to do so.”

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