Ex-police commissioner Jamie Chalker loses bid to enforce veteran detective’s retirement

A court has heard Senior Constable Andrea Davis was a member of the police force for 15 years when she was deemed ‘unfit for duty’ over her reluctance to have the Covid vaccination.

Senior Constable Andrea Davis (right) with Senior Constable Tanya Larsen-Smith in 2015 after overseeing the investigation into Hells Angel Nicholas ‘Shonky’ Cassidy.

Former NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker has lost a bid to enforce the sacking of a veteran detective who refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19 during the pandemic.

The Supreme Court heard Senior Constable Andrea Davis had been a member of the force for 15 years when Mr Chalker directed all officers to show proof of vaccination in accordance with chief health officer orders in October 2021.

The direction stated that any member without a medical exemption certificate who had not received their second dose by Christmas Day would be subject to disciplinary action.

Constable Davis wrote to Mr Chalker explaining her decision not to be vaccinated, claiming the orders did not apply to her and seeking to continue working, either from the office or from home, or to take accrued leave.

“She stated that she was unable to give informed consent to be vaccinated because the short term risks to safety and the vaccines’ adverse effects were known, and the medium and long-term outcomes regarding safety were unknown,” Justice Sonia Brownhill said.

Constable Davis was given notice that she was unfit for duty, which was then affirmed on review, with Mr Chalker’s delegate informing her she was to be retired from the force.

Constable Davis appealed that decision and the notice of retirement was “rescinded … pending the final determination” of the appeal, before a further internal broadcast was issued in June 2022, revoking the mandatory vaccination requirements.

Former NT police commissioner Jamie Chalker.

Constable Davis applied to the appeal board for the latest broadcast to be included in its deliberations, to which the board agreed, with Mr Chalker then seeking judicial review of that decision in the Supreme Court.

In rejecting Mr Chalker’s appeal just days before he retired his commission on Sunday, Justice Brownhill found it was “apparent” that the board “considered that the interests of justice lay in admitting the broadcast”.

“It must be borne in mind that judicial review for jurisdictional error does not involve merits review,” she said.

“The question is not whether the board was right or wrong about what the parties’ competing interests were, the balance of the parties’ competing interests or what the interests of justice required.”

In dismissing the appeal, Justice Brownhill also rejected a challenge to the board’s decision to conduct its review as a rehearing from scratch.

“The question is whether the board’s decisions to admit the broadcast and conduct an appeal de novo were made on the basis of, and by taking into account, those matters,” she said.