However we have had most people kept at home longer than they would in some other countries
Well in fairness, our lockdowns have been far more relaxed than some of our peers on the continent and the police much more chilled. I'm grateful for this. And then there are my in-laws in Melbourne who have been locked down much more stringently for far longer, and they've barely had any COVID-19 by comparison. I hope things work out for them in the long run and they don't get locked down again so they can feel justified for the pain and effort, but I'm happy we haven't had this.
A little bit of inconvenience for Victorians means that Victoria has now had 36 days straight of no new Covid infections, and there are no infections still hospitalized. A far cry from the several hundred infections/day and 700+ dead of 6+ weeks earlier.
This was accomplished because the people chose to work together for the common good, rather than place their individual freedoms to the forefront. Of course there were some who didn't like it, but overall the greater majority complied.
And this was the same for all the other states, resulting in Australia now being virtually 100% free of Covid.
If Machiavelli were a hacker, he'd have worked for the CSSG. -- Phil Lapsley