Questions without notice and ministers statements
Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority
Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (12:00): My question is for the Minister for Emergency Services. In early October last year I was contacted by workers from the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority. There were a group of workers concerned about vaccine mandates. As with other people I have spoken to, they expressed a range of concerns, including being vaccinated but feeling like they were having their privacy compromised. They were also concerned about the ability of the organisation to cope if they were sacked, claiming there were over 30 employees affected. They were passionate workers who were proud of the work they did serving the Victorian community and supporting their colleagues through a particularly stressful role. Earlier today the minister recognised this, reflecting on how wonderful these workers are and how they should be celebrated. I had the pleasure of meeting several former workers from ESTA when attending a protest last year. They were very upset about losing their jobs just as we experienced unprecedented demand. I was informed that the deadline for the mandate was 15 October last year. My question for the minister is: how many of these staff had their employment terminated due to the vaccine mandate?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:01): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question and again the opportunity to talk about ESTA and the fantastic service they provide the community and the amazing types of people that work in those organisations. Like in many workplaces and communities impacted by the pandemic, it was important for the health, safety and wellbeing of all of those people in all of those settings that particular decisions were made, including requirements for vaccinations to be able to be on site in certain settings. This applied to, of course, many health and emergency services settings, and included this chamber passing a similar motion to give similar effect.
Unlike you, I have only heard from one former employee of ESTA who raised concerns about not wanting to comply with the requirements that his colleagues were prepared to comply with, so I would say that these are operational matters in relation to how many people are out, but it is very small numbers. I have asked the question about the impact on service delivery, and this has not been an issue that is considered to be impacting on ESTA’s other performance issues. The staff that are out I think are very, very small, and I would encourage them if they want to come back to consider getting some health advice in relation to their vaccination options. But it is not a factor that has been attributed to any of the issues that we are focused on improving in relation to ESTA’s performance.
Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (12:03): I thank the Attorney for her answer. I met at least half a dozen on the street, so there are at least that many. I was also informed when talking to these workers and talking to other workers who have lost their jobs due to mandates that rather than face termination and have that sort of black mark on their resume they instead chose to resign before the mandate deadline date. The minister may not be able to answer this on the spot, so she might have to take it on notice, but how many ESTA workers resigned in the two weeks prior to the 15 October deadline?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:03): Mr Limbrick, I will have a look at what information I can get to you, but I would be a bit concerned about the fact that people do not have to provide a reason for resignation, so the data might actually not be particularly helpful or useful in responding to your specific queries. I will have a look at it and see if there is anything else I can get to you. But, again, these are operational matters. It is not appropriate for me to intervene too much, but I can seek some information and see if there is anything that I think may be of interest to you.