Sunday Stories -Policing our Health

In 2020 the power of the police to control people's ability to move freely became heated debate, many were troubled by police enforcement of regulations that dealt with isolation and ‘distancing’ orders.

Since colonial times Queensland police have been called upon to enforce often unwelcomed rules made in response to public health fears.

From these early days and without specific training, Queensland police have been at the health frontlines, physically managing those suffering dangerous and deadly diseases - often within dire environmental conditions and without understanding of the diseases.

Leprosy, the Bubonic Plague , Typhus Fever, Hookworm, Cholera and the 'Spanish Flu'; as well as venereal diseases, psychiatric issues and alcoholism are part are some of the dramatic cast of characters in Hugo Ree's wonderfully researched, intelligently presented and beautifully written Enforcing Health: Police and Public Health, Queensland 1850-1920

Dr Hugo Rée is a retired physician, with a particular interest in the nexus between infectious diseases and public health. Before coming to Queensland in 1987, he worked in Fiji, The Gambia, the Maldive Islands, PNG, England, and New Zealand. In Queensland his particular areas of interest have been Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) and HIV.

Dr Jonathan Richards is a professional historian who trawls through archives and libraries throughout Australia, finding material for academic clients, community groups, government agencies and for his own writing. He successfully located most of the surviving records about Queensland's infamous Native Police force for his doctoral thesis and subsequent publication The Secret War.'Link: https://griffith.academia.edu/JonathanRichards

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Queensland Police Museum, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane City, Australia

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