At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in Australia, the Prime Minister hand-picked members for a new COVID-19 Coordination Commission, whose role was to ensure the proper functioning of national supply chains for medical equipment. However, as the crisis deepened, ​the body was in July renamed the National COVID-19 Commission Advisory Board, and its scope expanded to consider the nation's longer-term economic recovery. With Prime Minister Scott Morrison affirming the Board will work "within government," much remains unknown about the amount of sway it could have over political decisions.

Elizabeth Hicks of the University of Melbourne’s School of Government has recently written a paper that critically discusses this new body. Elizabeth joins The Grapevine to discuss her paper, including why the increased decision-making powers of the board could pose a threat to the proper functioning of democratic processes.