Hundreds of nurses and midwives quit their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic due to vaccine mandates but many thousands more backed them, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation federal secretary Annie Butler told a Senate committee on Thursday, hundreds of members rather than thousands, were stood aside due to their refusal of the COVID vaccine.
Ms Butler said many thousands of the union's members were very "pro-mandate" as they saw the vaccine as the first-line of defence against the virus.
"Many of our members were dissatisfied with their own colleagues who refused to get the mandate ... therefore presenting greater risks, both to their colleagues and to those people in their care," she said.
"The vast majority of our members were very strongly in favour of vaccination mandates at the time, as necessary and needed as an effective measure in dealing with the consequences of COVID-19."
Labor went to the 2022 election promising a royal commission on the pandemic years but in September it drew fierce criticism after instead announcing a special commission of inquiry.
Its terms of reference will include vaccinations, treatments and mental health support but it will not investigate the pandemic's controversial features including lockdowns and mask mandates.
Dr Scott Prasser from the Australian Institute for Progress said the best form of inquiry for the nation was a royal commission.
This was due to its coercive powers, ability to request documents, summon witnesses, take evidence under oath and hold public hearings.
"We need to know what really happened," Dr Prasser said.
Australian Institute for Progress executive director Graham Young said the nation's management of the pandemic fell short.
"Policies dealing with COVID were in my view, the worst ever public policy and public health failing in this country," he told the inquiry.
Mr Young said the people behind the decision making didn't appear to be diverse enough to take into account the needs of the whole community.
The inquiry is expected to deliver its final report in September but the Australian Human Rights Commission maintains a joint federal and state royal commission would be the "best option" to comprehensively examine Australia's response.
"While the commission has welcomed these inquiries ... they are not sufficient substitutes for a properly constituted royal commission," Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay wrote in her submission.
"The full human cost of the pandemic was substantial and cannot be measured by considering only the direct health and economic impacts."
Redfern Legal Centre says rapidly changing health orders, on-the-spot fines and heavy reliance on policing should be a priority for the inquiry.
Medical bodies such as the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners have recommended that it assess the vaccine rollout, mental health impacts, health response measures like lockdowns, public messaging and more.
A civil liberties group has proposed an examination of movement restrictions such as state border closures while think tanks want to examine the use of emergency powers.
