Western Sydney University asks for vaccination for campus attendance

Universities are moving toward requiring everybody on campus to be vaccinated, says Western Sydney Uni’s Barney Glover.

Western Sydney University’s vice-chancellor Barney Glover has signalled a trend towards double vaccination against Covid-19 for staff and students. Photo: Jane Dempster

Western Sydney University has become the first NSW university to make it a general requirement that staff and students who wish to come on to campuses have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 ­vaccine.

Vice-chancellor Barney Glover said the administration held an all-staff webinar last week and told them that as of October 25, the end of the spring term, one dose was required.

“And we’ll say the same to students, that they have to have one dose of vaccine at least to come onto campus,” Professor Glover said. A decision would be made by the end of November about when to make the second dose a ­requirement.

The Western Sydney VC, who is also convenor of the NSW Vice-Chancellors Committee, predicted such requirements would become more usual.

“I think that’s the trajectory for many of us and it’s very hard to the imagine other possibilities, unfortunately, because we have our public health responsibilities and there is a lot of responsibility on individuals in terms of their own health and wellbeing, that if they’re unvaccinated, they’re putting themselves at great risk,” he said.

Professor Glover said some staff would be able to do their jobs without necessarily coming to a campus.

“I’m sure that there will be those sorts of conversations that have to go on with individuals, for example, who for medical reasons can’t be vaccinated,” he said.

A recent survey showed 97 per cent of staff were on a trajectory to be fully vaccinated by year’s end.

On Thursday the NSW VCC will discuss vaccination strategies.

Professor Glover said he had already met with NSW government representatives who were drafting the public health orders to accompany the road map out of lockdown.

He said he did not believe that, at the moment, they were planning to include a mandate of full vaccination before people could come on to a TAFE or university campus, but were leaving the ­decision to the institutions.

The Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia ­announced last week that mandatory vaccination was supported by 77 per cent of independent providers in the higher education, vocational education, training and skills sectors.

The Victorian road map to a post-Covid norm cites November 5 as the day on which “on-site adult education returns for vaccinated Victorians”. So far, three universities have mandated double vaccination as a requirement for attending campus: La Trobe, Monash and the University of Melbourne.

Last month Deakin University vice-chancellor Iain Martin kicked off the debate over how tough a line universities should take on the issue. Deakin is among a growing number of universities, including the University of Sydney and University of NSW, surveying staff and students about attitudes to vaccination.

The Group of Eight universities’ vice-chancellors were “taking the issue very seriously,” chief executive Vicki Thomson said.

“We are in discussions with our Go8 members and international counterparts to ensure our universities are aligned with world’s best practice,” she said.

The National Tertiary Education Union has said it was inappropriate for employers to mandate vaccination of staff without consulting with health officials, government and the union.