Not Without Precedent: Two Centuries of Public Health Emergencies in Victoria

The arrival of thousands of immigrants into Victoria from the 1840s brought not just wealth and growth but also huge public health challenges. The idea that the coronavirus pandemic is somehow ‘unprecedented’ ignores the weight of evidence about waves of disease that have come to Victoria before it. This broad survey of major public health challenges in Victoria since European incursions began points to how, in many ways, little has changed over time, and the need to fall back upon tried (if unpopular) measures such as quarantine, social distancing and isolation remains as relevant today as in earlier times until modern medical interventions, including broad-scale vaccination, can be achieved.