Community engagement in Australia’s COVID-19 communications response: learning lessons from the humanitarian sector

Abstract

This essay analyses the official communications response to COVID-19 in Australia in relation to its effectiveness in engaging communities to encourage the behaviour changes required to address the outbreak. In particular, it outlines three key considerations regarding the way in which the use of community engagement in the humanitarian sector during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo can inform current and future information preparedness of Governments in Australia in response to health and social crises.