Throughout the pandemic, sporting organisations have proven they can organise large-scale events in a safe and responsible way, without mandated vaccines for athletes.
The key requirement of any mandate should be that a vaccination certificate be produced for access to high-risk spaces where harm to others could occur.
This is an important victory for employees and unions, acknowledging the importance of genuine and meaningful consultation. It’s not a victory for mandate opponents.
For a leader with something of a fetish about having things under control, Scott Morrison is in a painful place. Just now, it seems, very little is controllable.
Much of the imagery and language of the marches has been transported directly from far-right groups in the US – and it is posing a serious threat to Australian democracy.
Court challenges over vaccine mandate exemptions have so far failed. But with fundamental human rights at the centre of the government’s emergency powers, is it time for purpose-built new law?
Singapore will start charging people who choose not to be vaccinated for any COVID-related hospital care. While Australia’s hospitals are also under pressure, we shouldn’t follow suit.
Paul Heyward, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
With vaccine mandates kicking in next Monday, the Teaching Council code of professional responsibility offers a guide to handling staffroom divides – if it’s used with care.
Jeffrey Hirsch, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The reasons have a lot to do with the nature of unions as representative of workers’ views, as well as the importance of protecting their right to bargain.
A recent survey reveals only limited employee support for workplace vaccine mandates, underlining how challenging the policy will be for lawmakers and employers.
The decisions of medical health-care professionals like doctors and nurse practitioners are more legally significant than ever before since they are determining vaccination exemptions.
Public health experts know that schools are likely sites for the spread of disease, and laws tying school attendance to vaccination go back to the 1800s.
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
Paediatrician at the Royal Childrens Hospital and Associate Professor and Clinician Scientist, University of Melbourne and MCRI, Murdoch Children's Research Institute