Vaccination status of Ballarat councillors ‘confidential’, not to be published

The City of Ballarat will not reveal the vaccination status of its councillors in line with another Victorian council.

The City of Ballarat will not reveal the vaccination status of its councillors.

Wyndham City Council voted on Tuesday night for its chief executive to confirm whether its councillors were vaccinated, and for the mayor to ask those who failed to provide proof of vaccination to take leave.

The CEO will also write to the local government minister and chief health officer about why vaccination requirements have not been extended to Victorian councils.

Before a final amendment, the motion entailed the publication of vaccinated councillors’ names and a request that the local government minister stand down those who were unvaccinated.

Asked whether the Ballarat council would follow suit, CEO Evan King said that councillors’ health decisions had to do with individual choice, and information about those choices was private and confidential.

“The City of Ballarat continues to follow the advice of the Victorian Government and the Chief Health Officer’s COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination Directions,” he said.

“The City of Ballarat prides itself on maintaining a working environment that is safe, inclusive and which protects the health of our workers and our community.

“We know vaccinations remain our best protection against COVID-19.”

The chief health officer’s directions require employers to have unvaccinated workers do their job from home.

Mr King said that unvaccinated councillors could still participate in council business through the use of technology.

“The November Council Meeting took place in the Council chamber, but also used the latest technology to create a hybrid Council meeting model, which allowed for the inclusion of any Councillor or community member who could not attend in person,” he said.

He did not comment explicitly about unvaccinated councillors being asked to take leave or being stood down, but state vaccination directions include no such obligations.

Ballarat mayor Daniel Moloney and councillors Ben Taylor, Des Hudson, and Belinda Coates told The Ballarat News that they were vaccinated.

Councillor Peter Eddy preferred not to say, but agreed with Mr King’s remarks and said that people should follow medical advice.

Other councillors did not respond in time for publication.

At the council’s most recent meeting on November 24, all but councillor Tracey Hargreaves were physically present.