Royal Commission of Inquiry into Fatalities at Bundaberg

Announced by Prime Minister S. M. Bruce on 31 January 1928 and appointed by Letters Patent dated 1 February 1928; hearings began on 13 February 1928. The commissioners were Charles Kellaway, director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (chairman), Peter MacCallum, professor of pathology at the University of Melbourne, and Arthur Tebbutt, bacteriologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. It was asked to inquire into the deaths of children inoculated on 27 January 1928. Kellaway delegated much of the laboratory work to Macfarlane Burnet.

1. 13 February 1928Hearings began; evidence was taken in Bundaberg, Stanthorpe, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
2. 13 June 1928Report tabled in the House of Representatives.

The report was presented to the Governor-General about 11 June 1928 and laid before the House of Representatives by the Minister for Health, Sir Neville Howse, on 13 June 1928. It found that the deaths were caused by contamination of the toxin-antitoxin with Staphylococcus aureus and that the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories had contributed by issuing multi-dose bottles without antiseptic. Its recommendations on antiseptics, labelling and the use of anatoxin were adopted by the health authorities, and the government announced compensation for the families.

• Inquiry into the deaths following diphtheria immunisation at Bundaberg
• Laboratory investigation of the toxin-antitoxin used
• Recommendations on the manufacture and handling of biological products

Loading lineage…

Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.