Sydney restaurant owners urge government to make clear vaccination rules for hospitality

Major hospitality figures like Neil Perry want the state government to take more of the lead as we inch closer to reopening next month.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the NSW Government will need to seek legal advice about the rules for hospitality venues when lockdown restrictions ease.

Restaurants, pubs and cafes will re-open when the state reaches the 70 per cent full vaccination threshold.

However, the country’s biggest hospitality players are fearful of being in the firing line if the government makes the industry responsible for turning away unvaccinated staff and customers.

“We’ll have the vaccination passport in New South Wales when we hit 70 per cent double dose,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“You’ll be able to check in with your QR code and see whether or not you’re vaccinated and that’s really important.

“All of us are looking forward to that time but we’re all in uncharted territory.”

“The government will need to seek legal advice ourselves.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media at Qudos Bank Arena vaccination hub. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

The premier said the state government was assessing if it will be an offence for a business to accept an unvaccinated customer and what the punishment may be.

“We are going through compliance issues now so there is an onus on you as an individual to be vaccinated and it will depend on the size of the business,” she said.

“We know many small businesses are doing it tough so we are going through that compliance regime right now to give enough notice to businesses before they open.”

There is further confusion around what will happen at 80 per cent threshold and if the government will open the economy to everyone or still maintain restrictions around vaccination.

“We’re still looking at what will happen at 80 per cent,” Ms Berejiklian said.

what we need to consider is not only what the unvaccinated population could do to our hospital system but the rate at which disease can still spread if too many people are unvaccinated.

Craig Laundy is concerned about legal cases if the government doesn’t clarify its stance on vaccination. Picture: Tim Hunter

Pub baron and former federal MP Craig Laundy said he was arming himself against possible cases under workplace health and safety laws, the Fair Work Act and claims for wrongful death and discrimination.

“If I have an unvaccinated staff member catch Covid and die … I can be criminally prosecuted,” he said.

“If I say I want vaccinated staff and the staff member doesn’t like that, they can take me to the Fair Work Commission.”

After consulting with the Federal Attorney-General’s Office and the Fair Work Ombudsman, Mr Laundy has engaged an independent risk assessment team to create a safety plan for all his venues.

“It would be their advice (on who to let in) not mine. I need a process to be able to defend myself against legal action,” he said. “My great hope is that the state government keep the public health order in place until we reach 90 per cent.”

Restauranteur Neil Perry says businesses should not be allowed to decide who comes in and who doesn’t. Picture: Jane Dempster

Celebrity chef Neil Perry said it would be “insane” if Premier Gladys Berejiklian left it up to businesses to ­decide whether to accept vaccinated patrons or not.

He has called for temporary health orders to continue until NSW no longer “needs masks anymore” and “we are all vaccinated to the point we can live without the orders’’.

Mr Perry said businesses were crying out for more clarity on what will happen when open at 70 per cent.

“The government has done a brilliant job of driving us to this point. So to now leave it up to the individual businesses to decide who can come in is insane. It’s the most insane turnaround,” he said. “When the Premier says vaccinated people will be able to do things unvaccinated people can’t do – she needs to clarify what the business ­behaviour is around her thoughts.”

Existing property law can protect businesses in turning unvaccinated patrons away to a certain degree – but legal expert Andrew Stewart said there were many grey areas.

Lawyers have warned businesses about a number of legal claims they could be facing. Picture: Supplied

“My greatest concern is the abrogation of responsibility by the government. We seem to have a government that doesn’t want to take even the most basic responsibility to provide guidance,” he said.

Mr Stewart said discrimination claims could not be ruled out as people could ­potentially argue disability discrimination if they have medical reasons for being ­unvaccinated as well as age discrimination, discrimination on the grounds of political opinion and religion.

He explained the law for forcing employees to vaccinate was equally tricky and businesses who chose to open to unvaccinated customers were staring down claims that they breached their duty of care.

“The legal quagmire that’s left if there is no guidance from the government is one that has to be sorted out in the courts over enormous ­expense and over a lengthy period,” he said

Dah Lee, the owner of the restaurant Firegrill Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

He added that the onus to provide clarity lay with both the federal and state government as they oversee different areas of legislation that can overlap. For restaurants across Greater Sydney, the guidance couldn’t come ­sooner.

The Daily Telegraph rang more than 30 hospitality ­venues and while many were taking bookings from October 18 – they all revealed they had received no directions from the government on managing reopening.

Sydney restaurant Firegrill owner Dah Lee said while it has been fortunate most ­people making bookings say they are fully vaccinated, the big question remains for those yet to get the jab.

“People have been ringing up interested to book, but the big question is will they have to be vaccinated,” Mr Lee said. “It’s a bit of a waiting game.”