Influenza quarantine camp setup at Wallangarra, Queensland, 1919

At the end of the First World War, in 1918 and 1919, the ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic killed more than 30 million people worldwide. Australia was lucky because it is an island. From October 1918, the Australian Quarantine Service checked all ships arriving in Australia. People with suspected flu had to stay in quarantine. Despite these precautions, the flu did spread into the community. About 15,000 Australians died of the flu in 1919.