Does Victoria’s new vaccine mandate apply to you and when is the deadline for getting the jab?

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has announced the state government will require approximately 1.25 million authorised workers in the state to be vaccinated in a bid to slow the state’s surging Covid-19 cases ahead of the state emerging from lockdown. When will people need to be vaccinated? How many are affected? And who is covered by the mandate?

Anyone who works for an authorised provider that is open during lockdown or provide takeaway must be vaccinated, including:

• Supermarket, grocery, bakery, butcher, fruit and vegetable store workers or those who work in markets

• Restaurant, cafe, food truck, pub, bar, bottleshop or hotel workers

• Financial institution staff

• Consular and diplomatic staff

• Victorian politicians, and parliamentary staff

• Post office workers

• Healthcare workers

• Newsagents

• Pharmacy workers

• Petrol station, or vehicle repair workers

• Construction workers

• Pet store staff

• Veterinary clinic staff, and other animal health workers including RSPCA and zoo workers

• Abattoir, seafood, and poultry processing workers

• Animal saleyard, knackery and transportation workers

• Child protection workers

• Education providers, including childcare and early learning

• Click and collect service providers

• Locksmiths

• Labour hire for authorised providers or workers

• Laundry and dry cleaners, and commercial cleaners for non-residential premises

• Pool and spa maintenance staff

• Hair clinics for specialist treatment with a medical certificate

• Outdoor maintenance workers and outdoor home installation workers

• Pet groomers

Outside authorised providers, authorised workers include:

• Interpreters

• Funeral or mortuary workers

• Marriage celebrants

• Workers in elective surgery and post-operative care in regional Victoria

• Emergency service workers, including voluntary and paid workers, fire, ambulance, and police

• Military personnel

• Workers maintaining essential infrastructure or services, or undertaking critical repairs

• Personal trainers

• Faith leaders broadcasting services and ceremonies at places of worship

• People involved in the state’s Covid-19 response – including hotel quarantine and vaccination workers

• Roadside assistance workers

• Any worker required to ensure the functioning of the federal parliament, including MPs and staff

• Waste collection and recovery workers

• Energy provider workers

• Water supply, sewerage and drainage service providers

• Liquid fuel and refinery service providers

• Federal public servants, including Border Force, federal law enforcement and intelligence agency staff

• Court workers, including judges and staff

• Lawyers and legal practitioners where matters cannot be undertaken remotely

• Pathologists and forensic services

• Journalists and other media services

• Film, TV and documentary workers already in production and operating as a closed set

• Essential telecommunications service providers

• Professional or high-performance sports people, or workers supporting the running of the respective sport

• Workers in thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing

• Mining workers

• Administrative service workers that enable employers to have staff work from home, including payroll and IT

• Public transport workers, taxis, rideshare services, air transport workers, port operations, freight services, logistics drivers

• Blood bank and other bank service workers

• Care service workers, including disability and aged care workers

• Truck stop workers

• Workers in critical scientific facilities

• People working in real estate for property inspections, settlement, or end-of-lease work

• Removalists

• Manufacturing workers

• Union/peak body/employer organisation officials attending worksites for OH&S advice

• Fifo workers who are required for industry or business continuity or maintenance

The exhaustive list of authorised workers can be found here.

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The new rules will apply across all of Victoria, not just Melbourne.

In order to continue working on site, they will need to have the first dose of the vaccine by 15 October, and the second dose by 26 November.

The new dates do not apply to workers in industries with a mandate already in place, such as construction, freight, healthcare, aged care and education. The existing date will apply for those groups.

Andrews said it will cover about 1.25 million workers in the state, however he noted many of them would have already had at least one jab, not only due to Victoria having 80% of the over 16 population having one dose, but with some industries in the list already requiring vaccination for workers.

Extra support is being provided to GPs and pharmacies in the form of grants to boost hours and staff, and there will be a walk-in Moderna vaccine blitz from 4 October to 10 October at the following locations:

• Melton Vaccination Hub (Bunnings)

• Sunshine Vaccination Hub

• Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

• Royal Exhibition Building

• Sandown Racecourse Vaccination Centre

• Frankston Community Vaccination Hub

• Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre

• Dandenong Palm Plaza

• Former Ford factory Campbellfield

• La Trobe University site in Bundoora

• St Francis Xavier College Officer Campus

Andrews did not outline specific circumstances under which people would be exempted from the mandate, but said there would be “very detailed” consultation with various industries.

Andrews said those who refuse will not be allowed to go to work.

“We want to open the place up. I want to. I’m not taking lectures on freedom from people who will hold all of us back,” he said.

Andrews said it was to drive the number of vaccinations up, and therefore drive the number of cases down as Victoria aims to get to 70% and 80% double dose vaccinations across the state in late October and early November.

“What we’re trying to avoid is a situation where we’ve got thousands and thousands and thousands of people in hospital before we open up, because when we open up there is of course going to be thousands more, we know that’s what we keep talking about how challenging it’s going to be for our nurses and for the others working our health system,” he said.

“But in order for that to be a fair fight, we’ve got to try to minimise the number of cases, and therefore the number of hospitalisations between now and when we get to 70% double dose on or about the 26th of October.”

Andrews would not say if the rules on vaccination would relax when vaccination rates get higher, stating he didn’t want people to have an incentive to hold out on getting vaccinated.

“We’re going to have a vaccinated economy, and we’re going to lock some people out, because that is far better than locking everybody down. That’s the decision we’ve made.”