No Jab, No Job! Do we have “Freedom of Choice”? (2021)

No jab, no job. Do we have freedom of choice in Australia? Welcome back to the Snapshot channel, my name is Mia and today we'll be talking about the issue of mandatory vaccinations. I know you love our videos so why don't you hit that like button and remember to subscribe for more videos like this. So back in May we did do a video about vaccine passports and the possible infringement of privacy and basic rights upon its implementation. Now there is an increase in national debate about whether vaccinations should be made mandatory in certain industry sectors. The net for compulsory vaccinations also seem to be ever widening. Where do we draw the line and say this could now be infringing upon our basic human rights or freedoms or do we really have freedom of choice in Australia when it comes to vaccinations? So with daily cases hitting thousands and total death reaching over a thousand now, Australia's road map out of COVID shutdown is highly dependent on reaching certain vaccination targets. Being vaccinated does not mean you won't get affected by COVID but statistics do show that there will be much lower rates of severe symptoms and deaths. Therefore this is a huge case for increasing the rate of vaccination. The Australian government has always maintained that vaccinations of COVID-19 like all vaccinations are voluntary. Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists there will not be an expansion of mandatory vaccinations beyond certain specific roles. Now let's take a look if this is really the case. Right now the federal government has mandated vaccines for all aged care workers and those working on the quarantine frontline. Meanwhile most states have mandated that vaccine for all healthcare staff. For example in New South Wales workers are required to have at least one dose by the end of September. Apart from healthcare workers and quarantine staff, transportations, airport workers all fall into this category with other states set to follow if they haven't already. Now these are all high risk and high contact workers which is understandable hence why mandatory vaccinations required by law appear to be quite justified. However on top of all these authorized workers including construction workers and retail workers from 12 COVID hotspots around New South Wales must also be vaccinated in order to work outside of their local government area. Now this means that businesses that have staff who for whatever reason are not comfortable enough to be vaccinated would have to be actually stood down and replaced by other staff who are vaccinated. Now this kind of opens businesses up to possible breaches of workplace discrimination and other legal ramifications. Many of these staff are not directly customer facing nor do they work in high risk settings. From employees point of view those who are unwilling to be vaccinated will be out of work. From November onwards teachers in New South Wales must also be vaccinated in order to work. So far unions have been quite silent about this topic so the reality for many right now is no jab no job. Is it a possibility vaccinations could be mandatory for more and more places and retail settings? There have also been talks within hairdressing and other hospitality industries to mandate vaccinations for staff and customers. So down the track is it a possibility that you will not be able to enter a salon or restaurant or shops without proof that you have been vaccinated? Imagine that. Let's look at the legal aspects of the Australian Government's policy that COVID-19 vaccinations are voluntary for most Australians although the aim is to have as many people as possible make the choice to be vaccinated. According to the Australian Human Rights Commission if there is no specific law requiring a person to be vaccinated individuals, businesses and service providers need to carefully consider the position of vulnerable groups in the community before imposing any blanket COVID-19 vaccination policies or conditions. So these may have unintended consequences particularly for some people with disability or religious beliefs against vaccination or simply choose not to for whatever reason. It may also breach federal discrimination law including aspects of indirect discrimination provisions. Of course indirect discrimination must also pass the reasonableness test such as there is a public order in place or whether the work is being performed is actually high risk. Although it might be questionable whether all authorised workers who are in the hotspot local government areas in Sydney are working in high risk settings. So the question is, is it reasonable to require these authorised workers to be vaccinated? Now let's have a look at what the Fair Work Ombudsman have said about this. They said that employers can direct employees to get vaccinated where it is lawful and reasonable to do so. So what exactly does that mean? Ultimately only a court can answer that. The Fair Work Ombudsman has outlined four tiers of work to help assess where it might be lawful and reasonable to mandate vaccination. Tier one workers employees that interact with high risk people example for border control, hotel quarantine. Tier two workers, employees that interact with vulnerable people like health care and age care. Tier three workers, employers with public interactions like retail workers at essential stores and tier four workers are employers with minimal face-to-face interactions. So tier one and tier two are likely to be covered by public health orders or workplace contracts already. The Fair Work Ombudsman is quite vague about tier three workers. It says that if there is no community transmission of coronavirus for some time, mandating vaccination is less likely to be reasonable and vice versa. But it must always be determined on a case-by-case basis. It says that the coronavirus pandemic doesn't automatically make it reasonable for employers to direct employees to be vaccinated against the virus and employers must consider their obligation and responsibilities under the anti-discrimination law. This is not very clear at all and it seems to leave it to the businesses to make that decision. It hasn't been tested by the law and many businesses will be reluctant to try it in case of potential litigation. The Fair Work Ombudsman says it's unlikely to be reasonable to make tier four workers to get vaccinated. So where to from here? Yes it does seem like we have a freedom of choice when it comes to getting vaccinated but there is an increasing number of people faced with the reality of no jab no job. Whilst this may be reasonable for high-risk sectors it seems like the entire society is heading in that direction for an increasing number of workplaces. The COVID situation is very fluid and things can change by the minute if not second. Should we draw the bottom line to the industries that we can add to the list of mandatory vaccinations? Perhaps instead of handing down the stick to those who refuse to get vaccinated the government can maybe consider about positive reinforcements such as significant rewards for those who are vaccinated. This will incentivize more people to make the choice to get vaccinated instead of putting the onus on the businesses to deal with possible workplace legal ramifications and financial and operational problems due to standing aside unvaccinated employees under mandatory vaccination laws. So what are your thoughts about this? I would love to read all about it so leave your comments below and don't forget to like and subscribe and I'll see you next time. Bye!