COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Workers) Directions

8 October 2021

By Timothy Agius (Lawyer)

The Victorian Government has recently announced its intention to introduce mandatory vaccination requirements for all authorised providers and authorised workers who are not working from home.

On 7 October 2021, Professor Benjamin Cowie, Acting Chief Health Officer signed off on the COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Workers) Directions (Directions) which came into effect at 11:59:00pm on 7 October 2021.

The Directions give effect to the mandatory vaccination regime in Victoria by imposing obligations upon employers and by requiring steps to be taken in relation to the vaccination of workers. Notably, the deadline for workers to receive their first vaccination dose has been extended from 15 October 2021 to 22 October 2021.

In summary, the Directions:

  1. apply to a new and expanded list of workers and roles, which are outlined in Clause 9 with ‘dose deadlines’ provided in Schedule 1; and
  2. relate to workers who will, or may, leave their place of residence for work, and includes those workers who might need to be called into work, even though they have been working from home.

Obligations on employers

The Directions require employers:

  1. (not site operators) to collect, record and retain information relating to vaccination status;
  2. whom collect information that a worker is unvaccinated – to collect, record and retain information about whether the worker has a booking to receive, prior to the first dose deadline, a first dose to become partially vaccinated;  
  3. whom collect information that a worker is partially vaccinated – to collect, record and retain information about whether the worker has a booking to receive, prior to the second dose deadline, a second dose to become fully vaccinated;
  4. to ensure that an unvaccinated worker does not work outside their ordinary place of residence (a positive duty to prohibit unvaccinated work outside the home) – if an employer does not hold vaccination information, the employer must treat the worker as unvaccinated; and
  5. to notify their workers of the vaccination requirement as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Penalties

Significant penalties apply for non-compliance with the Directions.

Compliance with direction or other requirement

A person must not refuse or fail to comply with the Direction or other requirement made of the person.

The following fines apply for non compliance:

  • Natural person: $21,809
  • Body corporate: $109,044

The amount payable varies depending on the nature of the failure or refusal.

False or misleading information

A person must not give false or misleading information, make a statement that is false or misleading, or produce a document that is false or misleading. Further, a person must not make an entry into a document that is false or misleading.

The following fines apply for non compliance:

  • Natural person: $10,904
  • Body corporate: $54,522

If you require any further assistance with regards to how the Directions may apply to your business, please feel free to make contact with our office.