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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 629 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 20 October 2021 by Mr T.J. Healy

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

CORONAVIRUS — MANDATORY VACCINATION POLICY

629. Mr T.J. HEALY to the Minister for Health:

I refer to the state government's mandatory vaccination policy that was announced earlier today.

(1) Can the minister outline to the house why the decision to mandate vaccinations for certain workers and industries has been taken?

(2) Can the minister outline to the house the engagement that is being undertaken with industry and stakeholders implementing this policy?

Mr R.H. COOK replied:

(1)–(2) I would like to thank the member for the question; it is a very important one. As the member would be aware, earlier today we made an announcement around mandatory vaccination and this is based upon the latest health advice. The state government has today, as the Premier said, announced an overarching mandatory COVID-19 framework that will see a phased approach around mandatory occupations and workforces within Western Australia. This is a very important measure to make sure that we continue to drive up vaccination rates within the community and meet our number one priority, which is keeping Western Australians safe.

As a result of keeping Western Australians safe, we have been able to keep our economy open and keep people in the workplace. In addition to this, we will be mandating the different cohorts of workers. Group 1 has to be first dosed by 1 December and fully vaccinated by 31 December. These are industries determined to have high transmission risk or are a vulnerability risk or are critical to the safety of the community. The second group, which has to be first dosed by 31 December and fully vaccinated by 31 January, are industries and workers deemed critical to the ongoing delivery of business and the function of the community. These two groups represent about 60 per cent of our workforce. The final group is the lockdown group, which is those people who will be required to be fully vaccinated in the event that there is a lockdown. We say to people in these industry sectors: get yourself vaccinated now because in the event that we have a lockdown, you will not be allowed to go to work unless you are fully vaccinated.

Earlier today, I briefed representatives of industry, employers, employees and industry leaders on the government's announcement today, and I think it is fair to say that it was widely and positively received, but there are a lot of questions. There are a lot of questions and, of course, a lot of different settings in which people work, both physical settings and regulatory settings, particularly in the industrial relations context. The government has undertaken to have a series of round tables over the coming week or two weeks when we will sit down with industry leaders so that we can answer their detailed questions and, through that dialogue, inform ourselves and the legal teams we have working in this space to make sure that the directions we put in place are relevant and effective for those particular industry sectors. I think this is the commitment that they most widely welcomed—the opportunity to sit down with the government and make sure that they have an input in how we can best make sure that we can protect their industries, their workers and their customers or their clients.

I think this is a hallmark of a government that is prepared to do the hard work, to sit down and work in partnership with our industry leaders and partners to make sure that we can have an effective response to COVID-19. The response has been effective to date and we will continue that to make sure that we work in partnership with these industry groups to ensure that we are working together, because we are all in this together and together we will get through this.