The Government of Western Australia’s Department of Health has published a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy and Critical Business Worker Directions.
Many WA music venues, performers, technicians, and support crews will be impacted by the requirement under Group 2 Industries and Occupations defined in the policy and directions. This means that anyone classified as critical business workers within these places of work will need to have their first vaccination dose by 31 December 2021 and be fully vaccinated by 31 January 2022.
The WA Government has announced today that West Australian workers currently covered under their workforce vaccination policy will now be required to have a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within one month of becoming eligible.
The vaccination requirement extends to many others engaged at a critical business site with extremely limited and qualified exceptions. The casual and ad hoc nature of engagement for many industry professionals within impacted venues is likely to generate uncertainty and confusion relating to the application of mandated vaccinations. However, the limited nature of exclusions and the consequence of non-compliance gives businesses no room for error in applying the policy.
Impacted businesses such as performance venues will be required to maintain records of the vaccination status of critical business workers, which will extend to artists and crews in many circumstances.
Failing to comply with the Government’s vaccination mandate is an offence, punishable by a fine of up to $20,000 for individuals and $100,000 for bodies corporate.
There are excellent resources available from the Australian Hotel Association WA member portal and we will continue to update our COVID-19 Resources page as information becomes available here.
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