Qantas has followed SPC’s lead in mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for its employees.
SPC also says it is receiving support from its staff, business partners and local community for its requirement.
Qantas has announced it will require all its frontline staff to be fully vaccinated by November 15 and the rest by March next year. A staff survey found about four per cent were unwilling or unable to get vaccinated.
The Age is reporting that Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Iain Martin has raised the prospect of introducing mandatory vaccinations for students and staff from the start of the first semester in 2022.
The Canadian Government has announced it will make vaccinations mandatory for federal employees and also for those working in some federally regulated industries related to travel.
Australian residential aged care workers are required to have vaccinations.
SPC chairman Hussein Rifai expressed disappointment that Prime Minister Scott Morrison had adopted a “one-size-fits-all” approach and had not given employers the legal certainty by supporting mandatory vaccination.
“Vaccination is the only pathway out of lockdown and to protect our people,” he said.
Mr Rifai said SPC’s operations faced very different production, communications and engagement challenges.
“We are located in a regional area, our workers work in close proximity and we have continued to operate through the pandemic to serve food to the Australian public.
“We don’t have the luxury of time to conduct surveys when the vulnerable or immuno-compromised staff in our workforce face a more virulent strain and exposure risk in a few months. We needed to act and we did.
“Unfortunately, SPC’s decision was further vindicated with the announcement of positive cases in Shepparton on Friday, which has affected two local school campuses and already resulted in a number of exposure sites in the town.”
Mr Rifai said SPC expected the federal and state governments to provide the legal cover for employers to enable them to mandate the vaccine.
“With the Morrison Government ruling that out, the leadership position now falls to individual businesses.”