As with all inquiries, some things are excluded. Exclusions help avoid duplication of effort and help ensure the Inquiry's task is manageable and can be done within a reasonable timeframe.

Many of the exclusions for this inquiry reinforce the lesson-learned, future-focussed approach, and the preference to not duplicate the material already produced. They direct the Royal Commission away from a fault-finding process.

For example, while the policy framework for the response is in scope, the individual decisions, such as whether certain individuals should or should not have been granted MIQ access, or on which days alert levels should have changed, are excluded from the Inquiry’s scope. These individual decisions are less likely to help inform future pandemic decision making.