A national member survey from the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) shows 67% of businesses believe Covid vaccines should be mandatory for frontline retail staff, allowing for government approved exemptions, but 76% would not mandate the vaccine in the current environment while there are legal ambiguities.
There’s strong support for retail workers to be prioritised for Covid vaccines, with 83% in favour, while 82% of ARA members support a vaccine passport system which allows greater freedoms for fully vaccinated people.
Retailers are more hesitant about vaccine passports being used as a condition of entry into retail settings with 57% in support.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra said whilst retailers support vaccinations as Australia’s ticket to freedom, it is reckless to leave it to individual businesses to navigate the legal minefield of mandatory vaccinations.
“The ARA is strongly campaigning for the vaccination of as many Australians as possible. We need to power through to the 70 and 80 per cent vaccination marks to trigger more freedoms for citizens and put an end to the lockdowns that are decimating so many businesses and livelihoods,” Mr Zahra said.
“Retail workers are at the coalface of the crisis and deserve prioritisation and protection. However, the issue of mandatory vaccinations for certain workforce cohorts is complex. Unfortunately, the Federal Government has left this decision in the hands of employers, and this comes with great risk. Understandably, 76% of ARA members are not willing to make jabs compulsory without any legal protections in place.
“There’s a great deal of confusion and legal ambiguity around this and we need to see urgent leadership from the Federal Government to enable the necessary legal protections should businesses decide to make vaccines mandatory for their staff. It’s unfair to leave small businesses to navigate this legal minefield, and expose them to additional costs, without clarity or safeguards in place.
“The majority of our members support a vaccine passport system to allow greater freedoms for fully vaccinated people. Whilst it could make sense to allow businesses like hairdressers, beauty and nail salons, and restaurants that are currently shut in locked down jurisdictions to reopen and take bookings, we don’t believe such a system should apply to general retail settings.
“The ARA holds that vaccine passports are not appropriate for general retail, where they would interfere with Australian’s rights to access basic living essentials. To add to this, vaccine passports are another legally challenged area. The resources required to introduce store checking requirements and respond to customer enquiries and potential customer abuse resulting from the introduction of this measure adds a layer of distress to a retail workforce which is already struggling under the burden of Covid compliance demands.
“Many businesses in lockdown affected states are on the brink of financial, emotional and mental health collapse. Our greatest current priority is giving Australians and the retail workforce access to vaccinations. Only then can we see a staged reopening of society as vaccination rates improve so these businesses can thrive once again,” Mr Zahra said.
More News
