Gympie nurse Rachel Ann Leask loses fight for Covid jab exemption

A registered Queensland nurse’s fight for an exemption to the State Government’s controversial Covid vaccine mandates has been taken to the industrial watchdog.

A registered Gympie nurse has lost her fight for an exemption to the State Government’s Covid vaccine rules after she failed to provide any proof to back her claims.

Rachel Ann Leask had sought exemption from the rules, which required hospital staff to provide proof they received their first Covid shot by September 30, 2021 and a second by October 31, 2021.

On September 30 Ms Leask emailed her manager saying she had not had her vaccine and would not be working any of the shifts assigned to her indefinitely, but asked to retain her casual position, documents before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission reveal.

On December 13, 2021 Sunshine Coast health service’s interim CEO Lisa Newport told Ms Leask in an email she was required to apply for an exemption.

Ms Leask then sought to be excused from the mandates amid ongoing investigations of a health condition which she claimed dated back to March, 2019.

Gympie nurse Rachel Ann Leask has lost her fight for an exemption to the State Government’s Covid vaccine mandates, with her latest appeal rejected by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.

She applied for a further exemption in January 2022, claiming she had undergone tests and investigations and planned to return to work when the problem was managed.

In February her exemption was refused twice, first by SCHHS Acting Director of Human Resources Warren Campbell and subsequently by acting chief information and infrastructure officer Andrew Leggate on review.

Ms Leask then appealed this decision in the state’s IRC, where it was again rejected.

QIRC deputy president John Merrell said in his published ruling on Rachel Ann Leask’s appeal that it was not surprising her exemption request was refused by the Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service as she had not provided any proof to support her claims of a medical condition. (Photo by GEORGES GOBET / AFP)

Commission deputy president John Merrell, in a published ruling, said the SCHHS’s rejection of an exemption for Ms Leask was “fair and reasonable”.

Mr Merrell said Ms Leask gave no medical evidence to support her claims about an “unidentified diagnosis”.

“Put simply, despite the requirement for her to do so, Ms Leask did not identify the type of medical condition from which she was suffering and the nature of the tests or investigations she was undergoing,” Mr Merrell said.

“On that basis, Mr Campbell‘s decision at first instance, and Mr Leggate’s decision on review, were hardly surprising.”