Australian quarantine policy: From centralization to coordination with mid‐pandemic COVID‐19 shifts

By combining a historical institutionalism approach with institutional isomorphism and punctuated equilibrium, this paper analyses quarantine policy change across 120 years of Australian quarantine history. By anchoring our analysis within specific time periods (years before the Spanish flu, seven decades of inaction, and multiple post‐1997 pandemic updates and responses), we highlight when and why policies did or did not change and how constant push‐and‐pulls between State and Commonwealth institutional ownership altered policy possibilities. The heart of our analysis showcases how Australia's successful COVID‐19 response is a unique output of prior quarantine policies, institutional evolution, and mid‐pandemic alterations of key national pandemic response plans.