Unvaccinated Victorian firefighters still banned from work, as Covid mandates scrutinised

In Victoria, as the summer fire season looms, dozens of unvaccinated firefighters are still banned from returning to work three years after being stood down without pay.

Unvaccinated Victorian firefighters remain banned from working in the state.

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Across the nation’s frontline workforce, in health, aged care, police and paramedics, mandatory Covid-19 immunisation is a distant memory.

But in Victoria, as the summer fire season looms, dozens of unvaccinated firefighters are still banned from returning to work three years after being stood down without pay.

Their plight, and the controversial issue of mandates, have again come into sharp focus after the Covid inquiry report found that the backlash against compulsory vaccination had contributed to growing mistrust in government and medical science, and a dangerous fall in vaccination rates.

“Significant concerns were raised about vaccine mandates and people’s freedom to make their own medical choices … and the consequences of choosing not to,’’ the report said.

It’s understood 39 operational firefighters and about 10 other staff at Fire Rescue Victoria are still prohibited from working because they are unvaccinated, two years after the state ended its pandemic declaration

“It’s the last public-sector ­agency to be enforcing this and Victorian firefighters are the only firefighters nationally and globally still under mandatory vaccine ­settings,’’ a source close to the case said.

The requirement to have three Covid-19 vaccine doses was seen as particularly unreasonable given that commonwealth health guidelines now recommended one primary dose for healthy people aged 18-64, with the option of a booster 12 months later.

The insider said the ongoing ban had caused hardship and ­confusion for the workers who did not receive Covid jabs for a variety of reasons and now felt they were being punished for their actions and treated differently from other frontline workers and colleagues interstate.

Victoria Health revoked its Covid mandate for health workers at the beginning of October – well after other states – saying vaccination was still strongly recommended but not required due to the state’s Covid situation and advice and guidance from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.

It is understood Fire Rescue Victoria is reviewing the commissioner’s directions requiring Covid vaccination although the organisation said late on Tuesday that the mandate was still in force.

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the ongoing situation made no sense, especially when there was a shortage of firefighters. “They can go anywhere in this state. They can go into a hospital and visit their dying loved one and they can go into any social area, but they ­cannot go to work,” Ms Crozier said. “There’s no pandemic, the department has lifted its mandates for health workers, why are our firefighters being barred from their workplace? I believe it’s a breach of human rights.’’

In a reply to Ms Crozier’s questions, Attorney-General and Emergency Services Minister ­Jaclyn Symes last month said FRV had a responsibility to provide a safe workplace. “As such, it requires all employees to be fully vaccinated and up to date with vaccine boosters,” she said.

An FRV spokesperson declined to reveal the number of workers who had been stood down, but said Victorian firefighters delivered lifesaving medical care such as CPR and interacted with the public in a range of settings, including aged care. “Vaccination against Covid-19 remains an important risk control, particularly given the nature of our work,” the spokesperson said. “The vast majority of our people, more than 98 per cent, are ­vaccinated. This is a high figure for an organisation of more than 4500 employees.’’

The Covid Inquiry panel, which delivered its findings to the federal government last week, said future mandates should be “carefully balanced’ against their tendency to erode social licence and increase vaccine hesitancy.

“People reflected that mandating certain behaviours made them feel ‘forced’ and ‘disempowered’,’’ the panel noted

The mandates were a “controversial tool” that accelerated vaccine uptake and helped achieve the target under the national plan for reopening.

“However, they contributed to distrust in government, increased vaccine hesitancy and carried ­profound social and economic costs for those who could not or decided not to get vaccinated,” the report said.

“We heard many stories of how teachers, tradespeople, disability and aged care workers and others were fired from their jobs for objecting to being vaccinated against Covid-19, including on health, moral or religious grounds.’’

The review noted vaccination rates for many diseases, including Covid-19 and routine childhood immunisations, had fallen since the pandemic, with vaccine fatigue and increased anti-vaccine misinformation being key drivers.

Health Minister Mark Butler said drops in whooping cough and measles vaccinations for the under-fives was particularly worrying and had fallen under herd immunity levels. A community survey conducted in 2024 found that 21 per cent of respondents said they would not get a vaccine offered by the government in a future public health emergency and a further 17 per cent were undecided. A national strategy was needed to rebuild community trust in vaccines and improve vaccination rates, the report said.

The issue of vaccination mandates is causing ructions outside Victoria. In Queensland, hundreds of police and staff are launching a class action funded by billionaire Clive Palmer against the state government, claiming the now-revoked mandatory vaccination directions were coercive and limited human rights.

The action comes after the Queensland Supreme Court ruled in February that mandate directives breached the human rights of some public service employees.

Former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet said in August that he believed strict enforcement of ­vaccine mandates was a mistake. While health officials and governments were acting with the “right intentions”, he believed the law should have “left more room and respect(ed) freedom”.

“Vaccines saved lives … but ultimately mandates were wrong,” Mr Perrottet said, adding that personal choice “shouldn’t have cost” people their jobs.