" ... Under Australia's federal system, the States and Territories have the primary responsibility for the provision of health services, including public hospital services. However, following a referendum in 1946, an amendment to the Constitution inserted section 51(xxiiiA), which gave the Commonwealth the power to legislate on:
the provision of maternity allowances, widows pensions, child endowment, unemployment, pharmaceutical, sickness and hospital benefits, medical and dental services (but not so as to authorize any form of civil conscription), benefits to students and family allowances.
This provision has, in part, enabled Commonwealth governments to become increasingly involved in the funding and provision of public hospital services while the primary responsibility for the delivery of the services has remained with the States and Territories. However, this division of roles and responsibilities between the jurisdictions has never been fully clarified and has enabled successive Commonwealth and State/Territory governments to simply shift the blame to each other for perceived shortcomings in the funding and provision of public hospital services.
As you identified, contingent plans should have been put in place including the provision of resources. However citing "disunity by the states" is erroneous. It's akin to blaming the states for the initial slow roll out of vaccines that they never had.
