Unions and business are committed to working cooperatively with governments to keep workplaces safe and to achieve the highest possible rates of vaccination though building confidence in the vaccination program and supporting workers to get vaccinated.
The ACTU and the BCA acknowledge that the Federal Government’s COVID-19 vaccination policy is that it should be free and voluntary. We believe that for the overwhelming majority of Australians your work or workplace should not fundamentally alter the voluntary nature of vaccination.
Employers and unions recognise that for a small number of high-risk workplaces there may be a need for all workers in a workplace to be vaccinated to protect community health and safety. These are serious decisions that should not be left to individual employers and should only be made following public health advice based on risk and medical evidence.
The ACTU and the BCA call on governments and the National Cabinet to support this position and ensure that where mandatory vaccination requirements are necessary, they are implemented through the use of nationally consistent Public Health Orders.
