The Victorian government has settled a $5million class action brought by public housing residents in Melbourne.
The plaintiffs argued they were wrongly detained and were not allowed to leave the towers for 14 days, which caused immense hardship.
The Department of Health posted the notice of the settlement last week, which needs to be approved by the Supreme Court.
The state government denies claims outlined in the class action but proposed to resolve the matter through a settlement and without a trial.
The settlement will be divided among residents who opted into the agreement.
About 3000 residents were living across the nine towers during the time.
The immediate COVID-19 lockdown was announced at a 4pm press conference on July 4, with many of the residents unaware of the order until police arrived outside.
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“The rushed lockdown was not compatible with the residents’ human rights, including their right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty,” Glass said.
“In my opinion, based on the evidence gathered by the investigation, the action appeared to be contrary to the law.”
The investigation found that senior officials agreed on the morning of July 4 the towers should be locked down to control coronavirus outbreak, with a next-day start anticipated to allow planning for food supplies and other logistics.
However, it was announced it would start immediately.
The government did not mention an apology in the settlement.
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