Geelong Advertiser 4 February 1919
In the days of slower travel yet comparatively fast global communication through cablegrams, telegraph and radios, Australia could prepare for the looming threat. Before the Spanish Flu had arrived on our shores, authorities prepared health care facilities and issued vaccinations. But once it had arrived, state borders, schools, theatres, and pubs closed, and gatherings of 20 people were banned. Churches held their services outside. In Geelong, the first cases were reported in February 1919.