Australia’s Excess Deaths Inquiry Suppresses Majority of Submissions, Omitting Key Evidence from Record
Two thirds of submissions made to the Australian Government’s Excess Mortality Inquiry have been suppressed and key evidence omitted from its concluding report, calling the inquiry’s integrity and findings into question.
The world-first inquiry set out to investigate why record-high numbers of Australians have died in recent years, including non-Covid deaths, at levels not seen since World War II.
On Friday, the Excess Mortality Inquiry committee handed down its report, concluding that Covid is the “key driver” of Australian excess mortality, both “directly and indirectly”.
However, it has come to light that the committee buried the majority of submissions made to the inquiry, acknowledging only 59 (31.5%) of 187 submissions received on the public inquiry page.
A review of several withheld submissions and evidence submitted during the inquiry’s public hearing reveals that key evidence raised in the inquiry process has been entirely omitted from the committee’s report.
The committee’s suppression of this evidence raises the question: Did the committee follow the evidence, or did it discard the evidence that didn’t follow its preferred narrative?
“Incredibly high” excess mortality
The federal Excess Mortality Inquiry was established in March of this year to identify drivers of Australia’s excess mortality from 2021-2023, and to make recommendations on how to address preventable drivers of excess mortality going forward.
Like many other Western countries throughout the pandemic years, Australia saw “incredibly high” excess mortality that could not be entirely explained by Covid, leading to calls for further Government investigation.
According to analysis by Australia’s peak actuarial body, the Actuaries Institute, excess deaths peaked in 2022 at 12%, an extra 20,200 deaths above the expected baseline. Excess mortality remained high throughout 2023 at 5%, an extra 8,400 deaths. Australian Bureau of Statisics (ABS) figures differ slightly.
Former Actuaries Insitute spokesperson Karen Cutter told news.com.au that “mortality doesn’t normally vary by more than 1 to 2%”, so the excess mortality seen by Australia during the pandemic years is “way higher than normal levels”.
