COVID-19 vaccination
Moira DEEMING (Western Metropolitan) (18:04): (726) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Emergency Services. As I understand it, Fire Rescue Victoria is the only state fire authority in Australia that is still enforcing COVID vaccine mandates for workers. The federal government has never mandated firefighters to take COVID vaccines, so many of our Victorian firefighters are working right now at Tullamarine airport doing exactly the same work that they are barred from doing under Victoria’s rules. Also today I read a Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report about a Victorian COVID vaccine injured firefighter on WorkCover leave who won his case and was allowed to return to full duties as a Victorian firefighter on the basis that (a) it would promote his rights under the Victorian human rights charter to equality, protection from medical treatment without consent, privacy and the right to participate in public life, (b) the public would benefit from his return to the firefighting force due to his significant years of experience and skill in being able to respond to life-threatening emergencies and (c) that the overall health risk to him and others was mild. The truth is that Fire Rescue Victoria, the United Firefighters Union and the Victorian government are all well aware of the number of successful COVID vaccination WorkCover claims, yet they are still enforcing the COVID mandates that are responsible for the damage that these WorkCover claims are even now paying for and which are reducing our available workforce in emergencies. So my request for action is that the government align their firefighter COVID mandate policy with the Commonwealth government’s so that overnight we can deploy another 50 able-bodied firefighters to help Victorians at the worst moments in their lives.