The Australian Government over the weekend launched the new voluntary coronavirus app, COVIDSafe, an important public health initiative to help keep you, your family and your community safe from further spread of coronavirus through early notification of possible exposure.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the app was crucial in Australians getting to the other side of the pandemic.
“By downloading this app, you will save lives and you will save livelihoods. It will also get us one step closer to normality resuming,” Mr McCormack said.
The Chief Medical Officer’s advice is Australians should download the COVIDSafe app as part of the plan to save lives and save livelihoods. The more people who download this app, the safer they and their family will be, the safer their community will be and the sooner restrictions can be safely lifted.
COVIDSafe will speed up the process of identifying people who have been in close contact with someone diagnosed with coronavirus, quickly stopping further spread of the virus in the community.
A new determination issued by the Minister for Health under the Biosecurity Act will ensure information provided voluntarily through the App will only be accessible for use by authorised state and territory health officials. Any other access or use will be a criminal offence.
To be effective, users should have the app running in the back- ground when they are coming into contact with others. It then securely makes a “digital handshake”, which notes the date and time, distance and duration of the contact. All information collected by the app is securely encrypted and stored in the app on the user’s phone. No-one, not even the user, can access it.