With current statistics on the Queensland Government website showing 91.5% of the population full vaccinated, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) yesterday called for the vaccine mandate to be removed, saying that businesses have “a right to know what the state’s 90% vaccine mandate review included and what it meant for rules impacting their day-to-day trade”.
Data gathered by CCIQ indicated that business confidence in Queensland is the lowest since the start of the pandemic, with over 60% of business owners and/or staff members reporting mental health issues relating to the stress of COVID and ongoing COVID business restrictions and in some cases also the impact of recent flooding.
The Queensland Human Rights Commission also states that it “is concerned about human rights issues connected to the vaccine mandates imposed through public health directions and employment directives made by public sector employers. The Commissioner has heard from many Queenslanders – both through enquiries to the Commission and in person at a series of community conversations in regional Queensland – of their concern and frustration about the incoming vaccine requirements. The Human Rights Act places an obligation on the Queensland Government to act and make decisions in a way that doesn’t limit human rights at all, or only in a way that is reasonable. Several human rights are limited by these requirements. Under Queensland law, the government must therefore demonstrate that these limitations are justified.”
The Commission is currently pursuing the issue of vaccine mandates via the legal system.
More Information
https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19
https://www.cciq.com.au/news/now-is-the-time-for-business-vaccine-mandates-to-be-reviewed-and-removed/
https://www.qhrc.qld.gov.au/your-rights/covid-19-and-human-rights/what-is-the-commission-doing