Search

The New South Wales government has been urged to drop the remaining 29,017 COVID-19 related fines, after the Supreme Court published a judgment detailing the minimum requirements for fines. The [...]

A recent decision delivered by the Fair Work Commission has confirmed a South Australian shipbuilding yard can dismiss employees for failing to comply with the company's vaccination requirements. The Australian [...]

What has changed with mandatory vaccination? As workers adapt to the unpredictable climate of the pandemic, NSW mandatory COVID-19 vaccine laws are also changing. COVID-19 vaccinations remain voluntary in Australia, [...]

Towards the end of 2021, the Queensland Chief Health Officer (CHO) issued Public Health Directions (Directions) requiring people who enter, work in or provide services in certain facilities, including hospitals, [...]

In the media COVID-19 close contact quarantine rules to be relaxed after national cabinet decision National cabinet agrees to transition away from doing PCR tests for people who only have [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought all kinds of challenges since the first case of coronavirus in Australia, especially for immigration. As we start the New Year, even more changes are [...]

On 14 July 2021, the NSW Government passed the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2021 ('2021 Regulations') which limited the exercise of certain rights by a lessor under [...]

An unvaccinated aged care sector worker in Victoria, who was dismissed for incapacity to perform his job, has failed in an unfair dismissal application. In Aucamp v Association for Christian [...]

The pandemic has prompted many organisations to adopt 'hybrid' work models. Seyfarth's global Future of Work pulse survey in 2021 found that navigating remote and hybrid work was the number [...]

Effective December 15, 2021, the Australian government will allow fully vaccinated travelers in eligible visa categories to travel to and from Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. [...]

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found that a decision by mining company BHP to make Covid-19 vaccinations at the Mt Arthur mine in the Hunter [...]

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found BHP's COVID-19 vaccination mandate is not reasonable and lawful, but reached this decision based on its failure to consult on whether to implement [...]

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia's public and private hospitals have faced the healthcare challenge of our generation. Despite reassuring trends in case numbers and hospitalisations, it's still [...]

Transport Industry - Compulsory COVID-19 Vaccination In the Northern Territory, vaccination is compulsory for freight transport workers, and workers must not enter into the Northern Territory unless they have: received [...]

The understanding that elderly people and people living with disability were the two key demographics most at risk of contracting COVID-19, and further, that they have an increased susceptibility to [...]

All the modelling done and released by our governments to support the roadmaps out of lockdowns tell us the same thing: as our businesses and borders reopen, the COVID numbers [...]

Employers have duties under workplace health and safety (WHS) legislation to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their workers. Employers are also entitled to take [...]

As NSW hits the 70% vaccination mark and we get closer to returning to the life we knew before the outbreak of COVID-19, one particular issue continues to rear its [...]

In the media NSW contract cleaning business in court The Fair Work Ombudsman has commenced legal action against a contract cleaning business located in the Hunter region of New South [...]

On October 1, 2021, the Australian government announced that it expects to begin lifting pandemic-related travel restrictions for fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents as soon as November. Australia's [...]

The management of COVID-19 in the workplace is a health and safety issue employers have been grappling with since the start of the pandemic. The recent developments with WorkSafe Victoria [...]

A New South Wales Police officer is taking legal action against the state Health Minister Brad Hazzard over the COVID-19 injection, which for many is for all intents and purposes [...]

You may have heard about the latest COVID-19 safety measure to be introduced - rapid antigen testing (RA testing). It has been introduced as part of a new requirement under [...]

Australian employers are considering whether to utilise rapid antigen testing (referred to endearingly as 'RAT') as a cost-effective and comparatively efficient means of screening workers for COVID-19 in the workplace. [...]

The nation is polarised over whether protests should occur during COVID-19 lockdowns. Those against these protests see them as an unjustified intrusion on the civil liberties of others, namely the [...]

Case law has been particularly influential of late in broadening Australia's understanding of when employers can and can't mandate a vaccine, and when they can and can't discipline an employee [...]

Put simply, no. Your employer cannot force you to have a COVID-19 vaccine. The Federal Government's policy remains that vaccines should be voluntary and free. However, depending on the circumstances, [...]

Although he initially stated that COVID-19 vaccines would be 'as mandatory as possible', Prime Minister Scott Morrison has since assured the public that the vaccination will be voluntary. Despite the [...]

There are calls for an urgent review into COVID policies and quarantine policing after a Victorian couple in the middle of moving to Queensland were given conflicting advice, then penalised [...]

Social isolation resulting from lockdowns, a lack of hope for the future and fear of the virus are fuelling anxiety and depression among Australian children and teenagers at alarming rates. [...]

Where a situation arises that is likely to be a risk to public health, the Health Minister is given substantial powers to deal with that risk. This includes making public [...]

We felt great pity for Melbournians last year when the 'ring of steel' was assembled around the metropolitan area, with various police checkpoints to ensure that people were only leaving [...]

With case numbers still rising, authorities have responded with tough new restrictions enforceable as at 11.59pm Saturday 17 July 2021. > People who live in the local government areas (LGAs) [...]

State of Origin Player Jai Arrow faces a $35,000 fine and a two-game suspension after allegedly breaching a public health order by bringing an 'unregistered guest', understood to be a [...]

As a result of new Covid cases in Sydney, New South Wales Health has issued a new public health order, which is currently in effect. > NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian [...]

The Federal Government is seeking fresh legal advice on whether it can compel private nursing home staff to obtain COVID-19 vaccinations. The move comes as Victoria battles another COVID outbreak, [...]

Michael Byrnes-Employment partner, discussed mandatory workplace Covid-19 vaccination with Brooke Corte on the Money News program on 2GB, 3AW and 4BC on 1 June 2021 (from 24:13): Click here the [...]

The European Parliament voted last week to call on the EU to support the 'Indian and South African World Trade Organization (WHO) initiative for a temporary waiver on intellectual property [...]

Mandatory Workplace Vaccination: The Current State of Play As the Covid-19 vaccination process slowly but surely proceeds, the issue of mandatory workplace Covid-19 vaccination is increasingly coming under consideration. Two [...]

The Fair Work Commission ('FWC') has upheld the termination of an aged care worker's employment who refused a flu vaccination on the grounds of a previous allergic reaction. While the [...]

In the absence of a Public Health Order mandating the COVID-19 vaccine, whether employers can require employees to be vaccinated against the disease is certainly a complex question. The Fair [...]

Since COVID-19 landed on our shores in early 2020, a range of orders and determinations have been issued by state, territory and federal governments which regulate Australian residents, ostensibly to [...]

The Victorian government is in the process of recruiting a team of experienced lawyers who will act as 'detention review officers', assessing applications for anyone wishing to avoid hotel quarantine. [...]

Introduction The NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has announced that the roll-out of the COVID- 19 vaccine will commence on Monday 22nd February with 35,000 frontline workers expected to be vaccinated [...]

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines for Australia has begun. To help, we have answered some of the frequently asked questions our employer clients are asking us. Can employers require [...]

Last year, temporary COVID-19 amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act) were introduced permitting: the use of technology to hold meetings, including Annual General Meetings (AGMs) electronic and split [...]

The legality of the Victorian Government's recent border closure has come under some scrutiny at a time when the border has been opened to around 1200 individuals involved with the [...]

A Victorian man intends to sue the State Government after being detained in quarantine. John-Lee Berridge says Victorian health authorities made a mistake about quarantine and he should not have [...]

In a widely-distributed open letter to NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller, a senior member of the NSW Police Force Public Order and Riot Squad has drawn attention to a situation [...]

There have been glimmers of hope that life might be getting back to 'normal' post pandemic in Australia, but the Federal Government announced this week that the soon-to-expire biosecurity emergency [...]