Now lawHealth & Care Introduced in the House of Representatives, 03 Sep 2025

Disease control centre takes over key health jobs

This law moves disease-watching powers to the new Australian Centre for Disease Control. It also moves a germ safety scheme and a work lung disease list. And it shuts down an old health agency on paper.

Official name: Australian Centre for Disease Control (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Travellers coming in or out of Australia: The centre's boss now picks which human diseases can set off border health powers.
• Labs that hold dangerous germs: The rules for storing risky germs and poisons are now run by the centre.
• Workers with lung disease from dust at work: The national list of these diseases is now run by the centre's boss.
• Health Department staff moving to the centre: They keep the same pay and conditions under the department's current workplace deal.
• People who ask the government for its papers: They cannot get private personal or business details held by the centre.

CDC needs powers handed over

Australia has talked about a national disease control centre for nearly 40 years. In 1987 health experts said disease control here was patchy and badly run.

The Labor party, now in government, promised a centre before the 2022 election. A short-term one started inside the Health Department on 1 January 2024. That is the federal government department for health.

A separate bill, the Australian Centre for Disease Control Bill 2025, set up the centre as its own agency. That bill made the job of Director-General, the person who runs it. In this article we call that person the centre's boss.

This bill is its partner. It goes through older laws and moves health jobs across to the new boss. Bills like this tidy up other laws so a new agency can do its work. This one changes four laws and scraps a fifth.

Border health law changes

The Biosecurity Act 2015 is the law that guards Australia's borders against diseases, pests and germs. Under it, one senior official can use strong powers to stop a disease spreading. The title is Director of Human Biosecurity. Until now, that was the Chief Medical Officer, the government's top doctor.

This law gives that title to the head of the Health Department. That is the most senior government worker in health. The head can now pass most of these powers to senior staff. Three powers stay with the head alone. One is the power to set up a special health response zone.

The centre's boss gets a key job under this Act. The boss now picks which human diseases go on a list of serious diseases. A disease must be on that list before most border health powers can be used. The boss must first talk with the Director of Human Biosecurity and each state's top doctor. The boss must also talk with the Director of Biosecurity, who guards against pests and plant and animal diseases.

Say a new flu starts spreading overseas. The centre's boss would decide if it goes on the list. Once it is listed, airport officers could use powers such as checking sick travellers.

The boss also writes reports on health risks to people from goods brought into Australia, when the Director of Biosecurity asks. The centre's staff can be trained to work as border health officers. They also cannot be sued when they do these jobs honestly and with care.

National health security changes

The National Health Security Act 2007 covers how Australia tracks disease outbreaks. It also covers how dangerous germs are handled. This law moves every job the head of the Health Department had under that Act to the centre's boss.

The boss becomes Australia's single contact for the World Health Organization. That is the United Nations health agency. Australia must have one contact under a set of world health rules from 2005. The boss can pick some Health Department staff to help, so someone can answer day and night.

Doctors and labs must report some diseases to the government. The list has more than 70 diseases on it. The Health Minister must now ask the centre's boss before changing it. The boss can also add a disease for a short time if an outbreak looks risky.

The centre also takes over a scheme for very dangerous germs and poisons. These could do great harm if misused. Labs that hold them must follow strict rules. The list of these germs will now sit on the centre's website.

The boss now writes the yearly report on how private health details were used. The law also makes clear one more point. Sharing details under the new centre's law is not a crime under this older Act.

Lung disease register moves

There is a national list of lung diseases caused by work. The Chief Medical Officer used to run it.

This law moves the list to the centre's boss. The boss can hand most of these tasks to staff. One power cannot be handed on.

Say a worker finds out they have a lung disease from dust at their job. Their case would now go on a list run by the centre.

Secret information stays secret

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 lets anyone ask the government for its papers. Some papers do not have to be handed over.

The new centre's law has a secrecy rule. It covers personal details and private business details the centre collects. This law adds that secrecy rule to a list in the Freedom of Information Act. So those details can always be held back. There is no test of whether the public would gain from seeing them.

The same rule means the boss will not publish private details when sharing health advice. The government says people told it they want the centre to use their data but keep it safe.

Old health agency closed

The Australian National Preventive Health Agency was set up in 2010. Its job was to help prevent long-term illness such as heart disease. It stopped work on 30 June 2014, and its jobs moved to the Health Department. But the law that made it was never cancelled.

This law cancels it. The government says this stops any overlap with the new centre. It also clears the way for the centre to work on long-term illness later. A review of the centre's work and money is due in 2028.

Staff and files move across

Part 2 of the bill handles the move itself. Records and files linked to the centre's new jobs pass from the Health Department to the centre's boss. They stay national government records under the law on keeping government papers.

Health Department staff who move to the centre keep the same pay and conditions. The department's current workplace deal covers them. It also covers new staff who join the centre.

Decisions made before the change keep working. The current list of dangerous human diseases stays. ID cards, powers handed to staff and mentions in old papers also carry over. The minister can make extra rules to cover any gaps.

Start date

This bill was brought into the House of Representatives on 3 September 2025. That is the house of Parliament where the government sits. The House passed it on 27 October 2025. The Senate passed it on 5 November 2025 without changes.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 10 November 2025. The Governor-General is the King's representative in Australia. It became Act No. 62 of 2025.

Its main parts started on 1 January 2026, the same day the centre itself started. If the main centre law had never started, this one would not have started either.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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