NSW are still dealing with an outbreak that started a month ago, whereas Victoria got on top of theirs relatively quickly (2 weeks I think?). There are lots of factors but I think still having masks indoors in public areas and on public transport helped.

That said, I probably agree with you that Victoria's lockdown was a bit too harsh. I live in Melbourne and had to sit through it too, and I broke the curfew, 5km radius and 1 hour exercise rules frequently.

I do wish that the response was consistent across all states. I also am pretty grateful that we've come out of the whole thing as well as we did.