Mandatory vaccination: to jab or not to jab (and lose your job?)

Tara Munro Mobbs (Principal Advisor) and Michael Stone (Expert Advisor) look at the State and Territory Public Health orders that introduced mandatory vaccination for aged care workers in 2021 and the Commonwealth’s legislative role under the Aged Care Act 1997.

In particular the pair focus on the following cases;

• Jennifer Kimber v Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care Ltd [2021] FWCFB 6015.
• Kassam v Hazzard;  Henry v Hazzard [2021] NSWSC 1320 – (Oct 21 NSW Supreme Court, single judge)
• Kassam v Hazzard;  Henry v Hazzard [2021] NSWCA 299 (Dec 21- NSW Court of Appeal)

They discuss the challenges to these vaccination requirements and how they have been interpreted in the courts.

• Have workers lost their jobs if they refused to have a jab? 
• If you want to work and retain your job without a jab, what options are there?
• What do employers have to do, to require mandatory vaccination of their workers?
• How did State, Territory, and Commonwealth laws, and the roles of different authorities, dovetail together to make this regulatory intervention work?

Tara Munro Mobbs – Principal Advisor
National Lead – Onsite Legal Delivery

Michael Stone – Expert Advisor

Interviewed by Declan Norrie, Senior Advisor