60% of NT businesses support vaccine mandate

MORE than 60 per cent of businesses support the chief health officer’s mandatory vaccination direction, according to an industry survey

MORE than 60 per cent of businesses support the chief health officer’s mandatory vaccination direction, according to respondents to a Chamber of Commerce NT survey this week.

According to the survey, over 60 per cent of respondents believe they are “very prepared” to implement the CHO direction and that they will be able to meet the obligation by last night’s deadline.

Just under 70 per cent of respondents also said they thought they had a good understanding of what their business needed to do in order to comply with the directive.

The remainder of respondents either did not support, or were unsure of their support, for the mandatory vaccination requirements.

Further, they were unsure whether or not they would be compliant, or whether they had all the information required in order to fulfill the direction.

In questions raised, the biggest concern of respondents was having to stand down employees who refuse to be vaccinated, followed by the fact that their business would not be able to operate effectively with reduced staff.

There were also concerns in relation to each business’s unique operational needs, including having proof of vaccination certificates to keeping staff and customers safe.

They were concerned about the enforced vaccination mandate and no right of choice, and potential unemployment and loss of income for staff.

Acting chief executive Stephen Goodall said the Chamber NT was involved in a business and industry group meeting with the chief health officer on Thursday.

As a result of the meeting, the NT government agreed it would visit some workplaces to determine if further clarification around the mandate was required.

It also scaled back the definition of a worker to no longer include a volunteer, contractor, subcontractor or labour hire employee.

Mr Goodall said businesses need to ensure they had updated their Covid management plans in the past six months and there would be no individual company exemptions to mandatory vaccination.

“Chamber continues to work closely with other industry groups in our liaison with the NT government to help support business wherever we can,” he said.

“We were pleased with responses to our survey and will be addressing questions raised in this process, to find answers or point business the right way for further information.”

All staff, both front and back of house, need to be vaccinated due to shared spaces and common areas such as servery’s, locker rooms, staff rooms and bathrooms.

Any business that needs more information can contact the Chamber of Commerce on [e-mail].

Originally published as 60% of NT businesses support vaccine mandate