VacciNATION: the nine stories of Australian workplace vaccination directions

Back in mid-August, fruit and veggie processor, SPC made a bold decision to mandate vaccinations for its entire Shepparton-based workforce.[1] This meant that 450 people had 6 weeks to be vaccinated or risk being refused entry to work… ?Some employees threatened to quit. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union said that the timeframe was unrealistic.[2] And, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) was yet to issue guidance on vaccine mandates (it now has ). The situation was tense – was SPC doing the right thing? Could they do it? Was my supply of tinned peaches at risk?

SPC’s decision was the first of many. Since then, many employers have made decisions to require cohorts of employees to be vaccinated. Under normal laws, the situation is a bit confusing and there's a need to balance health and safety obligations with 'reasonableness' of directions and privacy and discrimination considerations. But things get more straight forward when public health orders are issued, explicitly requiring employees to be vaccinated. This provides clarity and protection for employers and has been welcomed by employer organisations.

Two weeks ago, at 11.59pm on 28 September, the nation’s most comprehensive health directions came into force (from the Victorian Chief Health Office). And on that same day, the Fair Work Commission made its first decision about mandatory vaccinations in the workplace[3].

These orders are playing a critical role in instilling confidence amongst the community that Australia is beginning to emerge from the murkiness of knowing how to respond to COVID in the workplace.

One of the troubles getting out of this murkiness is that each state and territory has a different set of public health orders. This means, there’s different rules about vaccinations at work, applying to different industries and at different dates. Easy for a national employer, eh?

There’s many questions which are gradually being answered as organisations take a leap of faith in applying their jurisdiction specific health orders. Like, can you ask your employee to come back into the workplace? Do they need to be vaccinated? What if employees refuse to be vaccinated? Truth is, the answer to these questions depends on a lot – what state or territory you’re in, what industry, what role within the industry and even your place of residence.

To simplify some of these questions, we’ve prepared a summary of the key requirements per jurisdiction.

This summary is by no means holistic, but we’ve included some helpful links to access more detailed state and territory-based information at your own leisure.

And remember, the rules and requirements are changing all the time as governments manage outbreaks alongside the rising vaccination rates. So make sure you keep up to date.

What are the requirements?

The requirements largely depend on how the jurisdictions’ been impacted by COVID

As you’ve no doubt noticed, some jurisdictions have clearer (and more strict) requirements than others. The logic’s pretty straightforward ?– the states that have been most troubled by COVID outbreaks and endured long lockdowns (NSW and Victoria) – have the most comprehensive requirements, the states that have fared better – like SA and Tasmania - have less rigorous requirements… for now.

We’ve split our summary up to reflect this – NSW and Victoria up top, and all others down below.

Are there any commonalties between the requirements?

Despite each jurisdiction looking after its own patch, there’s definitely some common flavours in each of the state and territories’ requirements.

Things like, vaccinations are mandatory in industries which have high risks (and consequences) of exposure - aged care, education and health appear in every jurisdictions’ requirements.

All jurisdictions have medical exemptions to the vaccination requirements, with most requiring proof of the exemption's legitimacy.

But there’s also some key differences like the imposition of vaccination requirements in the Victorian construction industry and for the Queensland Police.

Jurisdictions with more rigorous rules – NSW and Victoria

So you employ staff in one of our more COVID-primed jurisdictions – here’s what your states’ health orders require.

New South Wales

NSW has led the charge in vaccination status, and is close to reaching 80% double vaccinated this week.

In NSW vaccinations have been mandated for some businesses and industries, and there are also working from home rules linked to employees’ vaccination status. The requirements are:

Businesses reopening need to have staff (and customers) vaxxed

NSW rejoiced on Monday 11 October with many businesses reopening. And with that, the directions about the re-opened business’ vaccination requirements also changed.?

Any business that reopened on Monday needs to take reasonable steps to prevent unvaccinated people entering their premises.

Vaccinations are mandatory in some industries

As well as specific businesses, some industries have mandatory vaccination directions, that each apply from different dates. This includes workers in:

• residential aged care facilities, from 31 October
• health care settings from 30 November, and disability and care workers (no date is specified yet)
• ?education settings (including early childhood workers), from 8 November
• airports (must be fully vaccinated or have had their first dose and will get their second within 3 months of their first or by 28 September).
• transport and logistics providing transportation services to overseas arrivals or flight crew (with the same date requirement as airports).
• the NSW quarantine system ( with the same date requirement as airports).

Vaccination status linked to work from home

Until 1 December 2021, there are specific work from home rules depending on employees’ vaccination status:

• Vaccinated employees

Employers must allow fully vaccinated employees to work from home if reasonably practicable. Not surprisingly, this will mean knowledge workers (banking, professional services and ‘office based’ roles) are allowed to work from home, whereas service-based workers (hairdressing, construction, health support services), may not.

• Unvaccinated employees

Unless it’s not reasonably practicable, unvaccinated workers must work from home. The employer must require this.

• ‘Half vaccinated’ employees

Employees outside Greater Sydney who have only had one vaccination must be allowed to work from home until 1 November 2021 if reasonably practicable.

Victoria

Victoria arguably has the most comprehensive public health directions, as well as the lowest vaccine hesitancy in Australia at 10.1%.[5]

Employers need to collect and keep vaccination records

From today, employers with workers on this list need to inform any?worker who’s likely to be required to work outside their ordinary place of residence that they (the employer) must collect, record, and hold vaccination information about:

• the vaccination bookings of workers who aren’t yet vaxxed, but have a booking to do so;
• for workers who’ve only had their first dose: details of the vaccination booking for the second dose;
• the details of the worker’s vaccination (if they’ve had both); and
• the employer must also inform their workers that they will not be permitted to work away from their homes if they are unvaccinated. ?

The workers on the list are largely workers essential to the functioning of the state and include people working in supermarkets, financial institutions, post offices, vets, pharmacies, and petrol stations. And bottle shops. Because they’re essential, right?

But the dates for when workers need to be vaccinated, depends on the industry

For most workplaces, workers need to be fully vaccinated by 26 November 2021, but different industries have different rules about when employees need to have their first vaccination booked or completed. Let’s take a quick look at the differences across industries:

• Residential aged care facilities. Workers need to be fully vaccinated by 15 November (or have a medical exemption)
• Construction. Workers need to have had a first dose, or a medical exemption
• Health care settings. Workers need a booking to have their first dose by 29 October, or a medical exemption
• Education settings (including childcare). Workers need a booking to have their first dose by 25 October, or a medical exemption

This list will likely be extended as part of the Victorian Government’s Roadmap out of lockdown.

Industry specific directions

There’s also additional obligations for employers and workers in specific industries. The obligations include increased cleaning, testing for COVID-19 and vaccination record keeping in industries like accommodation services, agriculture and forestry, airports, welfare and care, the arts, prisons, and emergency services (find the full list in the directive here).

The ‘lighter’ rules – SA, WA, Qld, Tasmania, the ACT and NT

Then there’s states and territories that have lighter health directions and orders. This is the majority of Australian states and territories, but I suspect they’ll piggyback off directions tested in Victoria and NSW before issuing anything wildly new.

South Australia

South Australia’s public health directions require certain workers to be vaccinated. The requirements apply to:

• ?Workers within the SA quarantine system
• Workers in residential aged care facilities
• Some essential travellers arriving in SA (e.g., transport and freight workers)
• Workers in health care settings

Western Australia

In Western Australia vaccinations have been mandated for some industries and some types of worker. Vaccinations are required for:

• Workers in residential aged care facility
• Workers in health care settings
• Port workers exposed to Covid-positive vessels
• Some essential travellers arriving in WA (e.g., transport and freight workers)

Queensland

Face masks must be worn indoors in some parts of Queensland. Additionally, there are vaccination mandates for:

• Police
• Workers in health care settings
• Workers within the Qld quarantine system
• Workers in residential aged care facilities
• Some essential travellers arriving in QLD (e.g., transport and freight workers)

Note: The Queensland Police and Health vaccination requirement is currently being challenged in the Queensland Supreme Court.

Tasmania

Tasmania has mandated vaccinations applying to:

• ?Workers in residential aged care facilities
• Workers within the Tasmanian quarantine system
• Workers in health care settings ?

Australian Capital Territory

Masks are mandatory in the ACT. Vaccinations have also been mandated for some industries too. The Australian Capital Territory Government has introduced COVID-19 vaccination requirements applying to:

• ?Workers in residential aged care facilities
• Workers in education settings

Northern Territory

Vaccinations are mandated in limited workplaces in the NT. The Northern Territory (NT) Government has introduced COVID-19 vaccination requirements for certain workers. The requirements apply to:

• Workers in residential aged care facilities
• Workers in the NT quarantine system

Note: The NT Government has foreshadowed the introduction of vaccine requirements for high-risk populations, but details are yet to be announced.

What’s next?

It is wonderful to see our vaccination rates rising, to beyond our targets in some jurisdictions. As vaccination hesitancy continues to drop the orders will become less important. But we can expect to see more employers making directions to their workforces on this issue.

Because let’s face it, there’s been no rule book for COVID…and no rule book about how to manage in the workplace. We’re working it out as we go.

Where do I get more information?

Below are a series of links that I suggest bookmarking to keep up to date with the regularly changing COVID vaccination status requirements. ?And, if you’re ever unsure, legal advice is a great solution.

For New South Wales

For Victoria

For Queensland

For Western Australia

For South Australia

For Tasmania

For the Australian Capital Territory

For the Northern Territory