Most Victorian aged care workers on track to meet deadline for mandatory vaccine

More than 96 per cent of Victoria’s residential aged care workers employed at federally run facilities have been immunised against coronavirus following the introduction of a vaccine mandate.

Monday was the vaccine deadline for residential aged care workers, who must now either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be able to show proof of their vaccination appointment, to be able to keep working in the industry.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the street in a day-long and at times violent march through the city on September 21.Credit:Eddie Jim

The latest figures obtained from the federal government on Monday show double dose vaccination rates among Victorian aged care workers employed in federally run facilities was sitting at 96.1 per cent, slightly behind NSW, which was hovering at 98.4 per cent.

The high vaccine uptake among the aged care sector in Victoria has been welcomed by the state’s health unions, aged care providers, lobby groups and advocates, who had feared a potential mass exodus of workers following the implementation of the mandate.

Despite those concerns not eventuating, some in the sector have warned even a small percentage of non-vaccinated aged care workers could have implications for the entire workforce, which is already under significant strain due to severe staffing shortages.

Health Workers Union Victorian secretary Diana Asmar said even if 3 or 4 per cent of the workforce left due to the mandate, it would have “massive” implications on existing staff.

“Since COVID-19, their workloads have increased, but staffing levels haven’t,” she said.

She said while the vast majority of the union’s members working in aged care were fully immunised, private residential homes were not filling spots for those that had left the industry, meaning “staff were working harder than ever”.

Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive Paul Sadler said the bulk of aged care workers were complying with the vaccination mandates.

“We’re not hearing from our member organisations that there’s been huge problems with the second vaccination,” he said.

“But having said that, I would lay odds there will be some staff awaiting a second vaccination for various reasons.

“That’s not to say that every single staff member has managed to get vaccinated, and it’s also not to say that there won’t be potentially some impacts for individual aged care providers who have to put some staff off until they’ve received their second vaccination.”

Andrew Kinnersly, chief executive of not-for-profit aged care provider Uniting AgeWell, praised the high uptake of vaccinations among staff at the organisation’s 12 residential facilities.

Only 1 per cent of staff had decided not to vaccinate, amounting to about 25 workers statewide, Mr Kinnersly said.

“There’s been a relatively minimal impact of refusers,” he said.

National data shows worker vaccination levels in aged care facilities are lowest in four regional areas.

In Colac, 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, Wangaratta in the state’s north-east and Baw Baw, east of Melbourne, the rate of fully vaccinated aged care workers is sitting at 80 to 89 per cent, while in the shire of Wellington, in eastern Victoria, just 70 to 79 per cent of residential aged care workers have been fully vaccinated.

A spokeswoman for Leading Age Services Australia also confirmed there had been no reports of mass resignations due to the vaccine mandate and said the vast majority of workers were complying with the measure.

The vaccine mandate has been deeply unpopular within some sectors in which it has been enforced, including the construction industry, where it resulted in ugly, violent protests.

On Saturday, thousands of people gathered again in Melbourne’s CBD to rally against the state government’s new emergency powers and vaccine mandates.

It followed violent demonstrations at Melbourne’s CFMEU headquarters in September, where construction workers demanded the union stand up for the workforce, setting off flares and blocking motorways.

The Age sought vaccination rates for aged care workers in state-run facilities from the state government, but was unable to obtain this before deadline.

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