CORONAVIRUS —
MANDATORY VACCINATIONS —FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICE VOLUNTEERS
999. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Emergency Services:
I refer to Legislative Council
question without notice 979 asked in this place on 16 November 2021.
(1) Can the
minister please table the Chief Health Officer's advice that supports
mandatory vaccinations for fire and emergency service volunteers?
(2) I refer to the information published on the
wa.gov.au website under the page titled ''COVID-19 coronavirus:
Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination information''. Can the minister please
direct me to which line or category specifies that fire and emergency services
volunteers are required to be vaccinated and by which date?
(3) Will the
minister commit to urgently updating the mandatory vaccination information on
the wa.gov.au website and the Department of Health website to make this
critical advice clearer for volunteers?
(4) Given the
overwhelming majority of emergency service volunteers are engaged by local
government and the changing advice and
position of the state government in this regard, what support, if any, will be
offered to assist local government and bushfire service volunteers to
comply with the legal directions?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) I table the document.
[See paper 888.]
(2) Fire and emergency services volunteers come under
group 2 of the Chief Health Officer's mandate as they are
considered a critical service necessary for the health, safety or welfare of
the community. This means that volunteers need to have received their first
vaccination by 31 December 2021 and be fully vaccinated by 31 January 2022.
(3) The Chief Health Officer's
directions clearly outline this information.
(4) The
Department of Fire and Emergency Services has and continues to consult with the
Western Australian Local Government Association, local government CEOs,
volunteer associations and volunteers on the implementation of the directions
ahead of the upcoming high-threat season.