Unvaccinated Qld teachers seek reversal on pandemic pay cuts

More than 300 teachers are pushing the new Queensland government to reverse pay penalties tied to Covid vaccine mandates, citing a recent report on pandemic-era policies.

Queensland teachers’ rally in the city.

More than 300 teachers, who had their pay docked because they did not have Covid jabs, will lobby the new state government to overturn the penalty.

The move is one of the few avenues of redress for the teachers, who failed to reverse Queensland Education’s disciplinary decision after the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission threw out their appeals in October.

The mooted plan follows last week’s damning federal government COVID-19 Response Inquiry Report.

The report found a “lack of transparency, fairness, compassion and proportionality” during the pandemic decreased people’s trust in governments and eroded public confidence.

It also found the public’s willingness to accept significant restrictions on their human rights, had decreased significantly by the end of the second year.

Teachers Professional Association of Queensland president Scott Stanford said the union had taken heart from the national report findings and comments from Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay.

Australian Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Stanford said the Red Union was representing 335 affected full-time teachers that faced suspension without pay for the first two terms of 2022, but about 1200 relief teachers were also impacted when “deactivated” due to not taking the Covid vaccine.

He said last week’s Covid response report gave the affected teachers hope that the new state government may legislate to overturn the QIRC’s previous decision.

“Legally there is no recourse – only public pressure and the fact that we now have a new government will give us all hope that common sense will prevail,” he said.

“Our next step is to make a presentation to the new state government and try to get the QIRC decision overturned.

“The fact that the previous government locked in these penalties in October, only hours before it went into caretaker mode, shows you how they did not want to be held to account for their actions.

“We believe that the results from last week’s Covid response report basically mean that the reasons behind the original QIRC decision were flawed.

“Queensland teachers are now being banished for having free will and standing up to their employers and we need to ensure that people’s rights are respected and free thought is valued.”

TPAQ president Scott Stanford is calling for the penalties to be reversed. Picture: Contributed

Since July 2023, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has dismissed more than 200 appeals filed by teachers challenging the validity of their vaccination mandates, with the latest order delivered in October 2024.

In the most recent case, the commission found the cases presented were “vexatious complaints” and thus lacked the grounds to proceed.

The outcome sparked significant concern among educators and their union representatives, who said it was in the public interest for the appeals to be heard.

The appeals were filed by teachers who contended that the COVID-19 vaccination laws, designed during the pandemic, were being enforced in a manner that violated their rights.

Many of the educators made personal appearances or participated via phone calls to present their cases during the hearings.

However, Vice President Daniel O’Connor, presiding over the matters, upheld the recommendations from Crown law lawyers, who argued for the dismissal of all cases.

Industrial lawyer for Red Union William Parry said TPAQ said the Education Department gave inappropriate weight to a national vaccination program to the detriment of workers, families, and their human rights.

Red Union lawyer William Parry is representing the teachers. Picture: The Courier-Mail

“The commission’s rationale centred on the determination that allowing further appeals would not serve the public interest,” Mr Parry said.

“During the hearings, affected teachers attempted to articulate their concerns, emphasising a lack of proper risk assessments and arguing that they had reasonable excuses for their appeals.

“However, the QIRC found otherwise.

“This has been seen by many as a failure to properly risk assess and consider the human rights of individuals in the workplace,” he said.

Australian Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay said last week’s Covid response report highlighted the personal toll some of the strict laws took on individuals.

“This contributed to the suffering of many people; including those separated from loved ones – either by state border closures, being stranded overseas, or being unable to comfort elderly parents confined to aged care homes – and continuing impacts such as children still struggling to re-engage at school following lengthy lockdowns,” she said.

“If we only talk about Australia’s ‘successful’ response to the pandemic, we diminish the personal toll that it took on so many Australians.”