SENTRY National Week of Action, 13–17 Sept
Secure Jobs & Safe Workloads
Employer vaccine mandates What does the law say?
Could a vaccine passport for public spaces work? Research Promoter
Predictors of professional engagement Laser acupuncture for shoulder and neck pain in office workers Published by National Tertiary Education Union
•
SEPT 2021
•
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
CONTENTS
National Week of Action
Aduli Malau-Aduli
In support of our National Week of Action, members have been sending in memes and selfies.
Working for the collective good of future generations of university workers.
04
06 Cover: Alessandro Biascioli/123rf
Sentry is a free online news magazine for NTEU members and Australian higher education staff. Sentry is published in the middle of each month, in between publication of the Union's main member magazine, Advocate. In 2021 Sentry will be published in February, April, May, June, August, September, October and December. Advocate will be published in March, July, November.
08
14
Vaccine mandates
Vaccine passport
Australian laws are not on the side of employer vaccine mandates, nor should they be.
Could a France-style vaccine mandate for public spaces work in Australia? Legally, yes, but it’s complicated
In case you missed it... 01 02 03 Transparent, open, collective bargaining 12 Laser acupuncture in office workers 17 Predictors of professional engagement 17 NTEU elections finalised 18
Sentry
•
SENTRY ISSN 2652-5992 Published by National Tertiary Education Union PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia ABN 38 579 396 344 All text & images ©NTEU 2021 unless stated Publisher
Matthew McGowan
Editor
Alison Barnes
Production Manager
Paul Clifton
Editorial Assistance Helena Spyrou Anastasia Kotaidis Sentry is available online free as a PDF and e-book at www.nteu.org.au/sentry NTEU acknowledges the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as traditional owners of Naarm (Melbourne), the land on which the NTEU National Office is situated, and pays respect to their Elders, past & present.
SEPTEMBER 2021
CATCH UP
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
In case you missed it.... Secure Jobs & Safe Workloads – National Week of Action NTEU is planning a National Week of Action, from 13-17 September, in support of secure jobs and safe workloads. The week will feature activities designed to send a clear message to VCs to fix these issues during bargaining for pay and conditions. High levels of casualisation and fixed term contracts – at the same time as VCs cut jobs – is contributing to unsafe workloads in the sector. This is making it harder for members to deliver high quality education and research. Come along to a live or online event to send a message to your management that enough is enough: Secure Jobs and Safe Workloads NOW!
Find out more a
Find activities at your local Branch a
Send us your National Week of Action selfie! Take part in the National Week of Action by sending us your selfie. We will include it along with hundreds of others in our social media blitz. 1. View or download our National Week of Action image: you can hold it up on your tablet, laptop, computer or print it out. 2. Email in your image to nwa@nteu.org.au ASAP before or during the week of action.
Get the Selfie image CAMERA-RETRO
NTEU online action: Secure Jobs Now! This session is a culmination of a week of NTEU activities at Branches demanding that management in universities bargain in good faith to create secure jobs, an issue widely and deeply felt by university members and staff. Featuring Sally McManus, ACTU Secretary; Dr Alison Barnes, NTEU National President; Karen Douglas, RMIT Branch Secretary & Casual Academic; Mick Piotto, UniSA Bargaining Team & Casual Professional Staff. In this session, Sally McManus will give a nationwide perspective on secure jobs. Karen Douglas and Mick Piotto will share their personal stories and what they mean to the campaign. We will talk about the various activities over the past week and ask participants to be part of a visual action on Zoom.
Register for this session a vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
1
CATCH UP
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
In case you missed it...
Support QUT Sessional Staff QUT sessional NTEU members are campaigning against the degrading standards for job security, increased workloads, and wage theft issues staff are facing at the hands of management’s COVID cost-cutting.
Watch and share the ACTU's 'It's time to get Vaccinated' video
Sign the Petition File-Signature
Intellectual freedom protected under union Agreement In a landmark decision in the Federal Court, NTEU has won a case which ruled USyd staff have a legal right to be protected from disciplinary action when exercising intellectual or academic freedom, under the terms of the NTEU Enterprise Agreement. The decision found that the employer-written code of conduct was subordinate to the union Agreement when it came to protecting the rights of staff to express academic and intellectual opinions.
Read the report a
NTEU NSW petition for paid vaccination leave We support the ambition to get people vaccinated as soon as possible, but we are concerned that without paid time off many higher education workers will be left struggling to find time to get vaccinated on weekends and before/after work. Some universities have agreed. Is your University still a holdout? Sign our petition & help get them on board!
Sign the Petition File-Signature
2
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
CATCH UP
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
In case you missed it... Dr Ziggy Switkowski resigns as RMIT Chancellor Dr Ziggy Switkowski has resigned from his position as Chancellor of RMIT University after a group of NTEU delegates drafted an Open Letter demanding that he step down due to his appointment as Chair of the Crown Resorts Board. The letter stated that given RMIT values include being 'agents of positive change for our students, the community and beyond', it is simply untenable that he continue in his role of Chancellor.
USyd casual staff win back pay Read the report a
Casual staff in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney have won back two hours of administration pay after it was axed entirely in 2020. While the USyd Casuals Network said the move was a 'significant win,' it falls short of the four hours allocated previously.
New WA Division Secretary
New ACT Division Secretary Congratulations to the new ACT Division Secretary, Dr Lachlan Clohesy, and new Assistant Secretary, Lina Koleilat. 'I’m incredibly humbled by the trust and support of my fellow members,' said Dr Clohesy. 'I look forward to working closely with members across our workplaces to build the power necessary for maintaining and extending our wages and conditions as we approach a post-COVID bargaining environment.' Congratulations to all who stood for elections and thank you to outgoing Division Secretary, Dr Cathy Day, for all of her work.
Congratulations to Dr Cathy Moore who has been elected as WA Division Secretary. 'If we want to change the future we need to stand together in solidarity, raise our collective voices, and resist the managerialism and corporatisation that is not only threatening to destroy our workplaces, but also impeding our ability to enrich society through education and research.' Cathy was formerly ECU NTEU Branch President, NTEU WA Division President, and worked with ECU's Centre for Learning and Teaching.
•
•
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
National Student Safety survey The National Student Safety Survey is being conducted as part of the Respect. Now. Always. Initiative. From 6 September – 3 October 2021, students will be randomly selected to participate in the survey. Students who are not randomly selected can still have a say by visiting the survey website.
Find out more File-Signature
3
SECURE JOBS
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
National Week of Action for
Secure Jobs & Safe Workloads In support of our National Week of Action (13-17 Sept), members have been sending in memes and selfies. Send us yours today via nwa@nteu.org.au.
•
Macquarie Branch
UQ Branch
Macquarie Branch
4
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
Ivo Lovric, ANU
Send us your #SecureJobs #SafeWorkloads selfie!
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
SECURE JOBS
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
5
VET SCIENCE
MEMBER STORY
Working for the collective good of future generations of university workers Aduli Malau-Aduli. Migrant. Academic. Gentle. Firm. Quiet. Peaceful. Unruffled. Fearless. Patient. Resilient. Lecturer. Researcher. Supervisor. Mentor. Father. Husband. Leader. Nigerian. That’s me. I work at the James Cook University (JCU) Veterinary Science Discipline in the College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences in Townsville, Queensland, where I teach Animal Genetics, Nutrition and Meat Science. I serve on the NTEU JCU Branch Committee and as the Veterinary Science NTEU Workplace Representative. In my workplace, I enjoy an atmosphere of academic freedom to associate with other hardworking colleagues who regularly bend over backwards beyond their normal call of duty, to provide top quality student learning and teaching experiences, professional and technical services. JCU Veterinary Science is also a collective powerbase because we realise that we are collectively stronger together than individually. Tenured and casual academics, professional and technical staff care for, and strengthen one another, under the same NTEU umbrella. This gives me immense joy, hope and confidence that there is always a supportive shoulder to lean on when needed.
Aduli Malau-Aduli James Cook University
The most pressing issues for my work colleagues and I include staff shortage in some key areas of clinical teaching where recruitment drives have not yielded the desired outcomes. More worrying is the poor staff retention record and high turnover rates that trigger an
To tell your story to the NTEU member community, please contact Helena Spyrou
6
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
overload of shared responsibilities to fill in the gaps. An overstretched and thinly spread workforce is a real issue that we have had to deal with by first sharing our workload concerns with each other, before sitting down and discussing with our Management. This has evolved into an active Working Group that regularly meets to discuss workload matters comprising the Vet Science Academic Head, Dean of College, University Human Resources, Vet Sci NTEU Workplace Representatives and NTEU Industrial Officer. I decided to join the Union and become an active voice for the voiceless, and to make the workplace a conducive environment for some of the world’s best veterinarians and non-veterinarians alike. I particularly care about non-teaching professional and sessional teaching colleagues on casual contracts with no guaranteed job security. Often, they are vulnerable and afraid to speak out for fear of not getting their contracts renewed. There may be other unspoken happenings in the workplace shrouded in disguised and thinly veiled discriminatory practices that people may be dealing with in the areas of promotion, job security and well-being, but very reluctant to voice out. Sharing our experiences and supporting each other could help lighten the burden. As a Union activist, the challenges I face include being misconstrued as the stubborn face of resistance, anti-
VET SCIENCE
MEMBER STORY management, and all sorts of misconceptual profiling. The highlight for me is our ability in JCU Veterinary Science to collectively enter a workplace dispute with the help of our NTEU Organiser, getting all relevant stakeholders talking about developing a realistic workload model and having a regular working group discussion that subjects the model to refinement. We are not yet there as this is still work in progress, but the atmosphere of mutual respect, collegiality and goodwill prevails. I want to share a few insights with other NTEU members and potential members: If you are not yet an NTEU member, I encourage you to join straight away. There is strength in collective unity. For fellow NTEU members, my advice is knock on doors, constructively talk and share experiences with each other. Strategise. Do something about the issues as a collective unit. It won’t be smooth-sailing. Be prepared – your name might be dragged in the mud, and in extreme cases, you could be the ‘sacrificial lamb’.
I decided to join the Union and become an active voice for the voiceless, and to make the workplace a conducive environment for some of the world’s best veterinarians and nonveterinarians alike.
Don’t give up. Be resolute, firm and resilient. Don’t let history pass you by. Be a part of it by lending a hand, time and resources for the collective good of future generations of university workers.
•
Aduli Malau-Aduli is an Associate Professor in Animal Nutrition and Genetics at JCU Read more about Aduli at his JCU Research Portfolio.
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
7
VACCINATION
MEMBER EXPERT
Australian laws are not on the side of employers mandating COVID-19 vaccines, nor should they be With high vaccination rates rightly seen as the way out of this pandemic, mandatory vaccinations at work are increasingly discussed.
In most cases, employers will neither have the duty, nor power at law to require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
In August, canning company, SPC, announced a ‘no COVID-19 jab, no work’ rule, following the footsteps of Queensland carrier, Alliance Airlines. Other food processing companies are closely monitoring the situation while Qantas, Google, Facebook and Deakin University are already considering mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for their workers. As the National Cabinet affirmed last Friday, ‘Australia’s policy remains that vaccines should be voluntary and free’: In general, in the absence of a State or Territory public health order or a requirement in an employment contract or industrial instrument, an employer can only mandate that an employee be vaccinated through a lawful and reasonable direction.
Professor Joo-Cheong Tham University of Melbourne
8
Image: Mat Napo/Unsplash
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
The National Cabinet also noted that ‘(b)usinesses have a legal obligation to keep their workplaces safe and to eliminate or minimise so far as ‘reasonably practicable’ the risk of exposure to COVID-19’. The National Cabinet also encouraged businesses to pay heed to the guidance issued by Safe Work Australia, the federal work safety regulator, and the Fair Work Ombudsman, the agency responsible for compliance with federal workplace laws. The guidance issued by these agencies, however, highlights that the law is not on the side of employer mandates. In most cases, employers will neither have the duty, nor power at law to require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. While this could be changed through
MEMBER EXPERT
NO DUTY TO MANDATE IN MOST SITUATIONS The guidance by Safe Work Australia acknowledges that public health directions may require some employers to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. It, however, stresses that ‘most employers will not need to make vaccination mandatory’ to meet their workplace, health and safety obligations – stating that ‘(i)t is unlikely that a requirement to be vaccinated will be reasonably practicable’ in many situations due to the absence of a recommendation from public health experts; lack of vaccine availability; and workers having medical reasons for not being vaccinated.
TYPICALLY NO POWER TO MANDATE The Fair Work Ombudsman’s guidance emphasises that ‘(w)hether an employer can require their employees to be vaccinated against coronavirus is highly fact dependent’. There are circumstances, according to the Ombudsman, which make it more likely for mandatory vaccination to be a lawful and reasonable direction including where:
• Employees interact with people with an elevated risk of being infected with coronavirus (for example, employees working in hotel quarantine or border control)
VACCINATION
legislation, there are good reasons to oppose employer mandates: respect for workers’ rights mean a preference for facilitative, as opposed to coercive, measures; and in the limited situations where mandatory vaccination of workers is imposed, this should be by democratic decision-making, not employer edicts.
• Employees have close contact with people who are most vulnerable to the health impacts of coronavirus infection (for example, employees working in health care or aged care). Nevertheless, the Ombudsman has concluded that ‘(i)n the current circumstances, the overwhelming majority of employers should assume that they can’t require their employees to be vaccinated against coronavirus’. The Victorian Human Rights and Equality Commission has also warned that there may be discrimination on the basis of disability, medical conditions and pregnancy. While this could be addressed through tailored exemptions, any company insisting on vaccination before all employees have access to vaccination are likely to be in breach of anti-discriminations laws due to age discrimination with 40 years-old having restricted access to vaccines (some of SPC’s young workers complained about its decision given their ineligibility for the Pfizer vaccine).
...there may be discrimination on the basis of disability, medical conditions and pregnancy.
There may also be racial discrimination (on the basis of immigrant status) because of the practical difficulties experienced by temporary visa-holders in accessing vaccinations. continued overpage...
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
9
VACCINATION
MEMBER EXPERT
FACILITATE, DON’T COERCE Neither the current legal position nor the guidance issued by Safe Work Australia and the Fair Work Ombudsman is sacrosanct. Employer mandates could be expressly authorised by amending the Fair Work Act. The Fair Work Ombudsman is currently reviewing its guidance. Some have also forcefully argued that many employers have both the power and duty to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations including senior counsels Arthur Moses and Ian Neil. But even if employer COVID-19 mandates were lawful, we should pause before embracing them – even when we acknowledge the clear public health benefits of COVID-19 vaccinations.
Worker autonomy is particularly critical here given the basic human rights involved – the rights to work and privacy.
10
The guidance by Safe Work Australia states that employers ‘can encourage (their) workers to get a COVID19 vaccination, if they are able to’. In response to SPC’s decision, major companies including Wesfarmers, Commonwealth Bank and NAB have said that ‘carrots rather than sticks’ will be more effective in accelerating vaccination rates. Local tech firms, Atlassian and Zip, for instance, are providing paid leave to workers for them to be vaccinated. The ACTU has also called for in-workplace vaccinations for aged and disability care workers and a public information campaign to provide information to workers.
At stake is the autonomy of workers, what the International Labour Organisation considers the right to work in ‘conditions of freedom and dignity’. Worker autonomy is particularly critical here given the basic human rights involved – the rights to work and privacy. Indignity results when these rights are not properly respected with employer mandates implemented without proper consultation with workers and their trade unions – witness the outrage of SPC’s workers feeling ‘steamrolled’ after learning of the company’s decision through the media.
Promoting informed decision-making is, in fact, a key facilitative measure. Workers who are reticent about being vaccinated against COVID-19 often have understandable reasons. The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (comprising the country’s chief medical officers) has said in relation to the low levels of vaccination amongst disability support workers that the ‘best available Australian research on disability support workers’ attitudes to vaccination shows they still have some questions about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, and are concerned about reductions in working hours if they have any side effects after being vaccinated’.
Worker autonomy is not opposed to workplace safety. But it does mean a preference for facilitative measures.
Worker input is also essential to worker autonomy. As it is, workplace, health and safety laws require consul-
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
tation with workers and trade unions on employer vaccination policies; as would most awards and enterprise agreements under the Fair Work Act. Guidance by the Fair Work Ombudsman also encourages a ‘collaborative approach when discussing, planning for and facilitating coronavirus vaccinations in the workplace’. This preference for facilitation and input is reinforced by public health research recommending health education and empowerment as the principal means for attaining vaccination coverage.
WHO DECIDES MATTERS The ACTU and the Business Council of Australia are united in opposing individual employer mandates, preferring instead public health directions to mandate vaccinations in high-risk areas. ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, has said that any mandate ‘has to be based on the advice of health professionals, not just made up by employers, and workers must be consulted, along with their union’. In a similar vein, Jennifer Westacott, CEO of the Business Council of Australia has said that any mandate should be ‘highly targeted’ and that ‘(t)he conversation needs to be based on the evidence, the risks, and be driven as much as possible through public health orders, not left to individual employers’.
VACCINATION
MEMBER EXPERT This raises a critical distinction between employer mandates and government mandates, such as public health directions, that rests upon two grounds. The first is legitimacy with weighty decisions to limit rights best undertaken by democratically-elected bodies in a transparent process based on public interest rather than private entities principally motivated by commercial considerations deciding in opaque circumstances. The second is effectiveness. Governments have access to expert advice (including through the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee comprising chief medical officers). They are also able to bring together a whole range of stake-holders together for their input on implementation measures (as the Federal Government has done with employer groups and unions in relation to the vaccine roll-out). High COVID-19 vaccination rates are essential to public safety in the pandemic. How we achieve them fundamentally matters. When it comes to COVID-19 vaccination of workers, employers should encourage, not mandate. In the few situations where worker vaccination ought to be mandated, this should be done by government, using democratic processes based on expert advice.
High COVID-19 vaccination rates are essential to public safety in the pandemic. How we achieve them fundamentally matters.
•
Professor Joo-Cheong Tham, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne This article first published on 12 August 2021 in Labour Law Down Under
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
11
BARGAINING
MEMBER STORY
Transparent, open, collective bargaining in our Branches I work in gender-based violence prevention programs at Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne. I’ve been in this role for about three years and I like how it brings me into contact with a wide variety of staff, students and community partners. I’ve only been an NTEU member since I started work at VU – previously I worked as an editor and was a member of the MEAA for nearly 20 years. I’ve been a socialist and community activist for most of my adult life. I joined the Branch Committee of our local NTEU Branch not long after I started at VU and was recently elected to the Vice-President (Professional staff) position. We gained lots of new Branch Committee members out of the recent elections, and there is a new sense of energy and determination in our Branch. VU members lost important conditions in the last Enterprise Agreement and we are determined to win true gains this time round! The key industrial issues at VU, as at so many other unis, are workloads and insecure work. The fact that these issues are so widespread should mean that our universities are in ferment and fighting back everywhere. The NTEU is definitely impacted by the long and disastrous decline of union density and militancy in Australia since the 1980s. That is the legacy of Hawke and Keating’s ‘Accord’, in which Labor and the union leaders systematically crushed independent union militancy and paved the way for WorkChoices.
Fleur Taylor Victoria University
To tell your story to the NTEU member community, please contact Helena Spyrou
12
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
Australian industrial relations laws are some of the most anti-worker in the developed world – even workers in the US and the Philippines have more scope to organise a strike or refuse to cross a picket line. Can this be turned around? It won’t be easy, but we have to start with what we have. Our membership density may be lower than it used to be, but universities are still unionised workplaces with Enterprise Agreements that include enforceable rights. Being in the Union is normal at universities. These two facts are a huge advance on many private sector workplaces, and we can use these to be 'talking union' with the people around us on issues big and small – from why we should be allowed to organise our personal spaces at work how we like, to why our upcoming bargaining round should include fighting for big, bold and specific claims that will make a genuine difference to members’ lives. The process of how this happens is as important as the issues we choose to fight around. The goal is active, confident members who know their rights, feel involved in making branch decisions and can carry them out locally.
BARGAINING
MEMBER STORY negotiations about a workplace agreement involve the whole union membership, or as many workers as want to be involved. I found the way our last Enterprise Agreement was negotiated at VU deeply disempowering. Infrequent members’ meetings were dominated by local and national office bearers taking up the whole meeting time by reporting on the minutiae of how the University proposed to attack us and how there was little we could do in response. Negotiations took place exclusively behind closed doors. I firmly believe that the process of transparent, open, collective bargaining would transform the energy and involvement in our Branches. If nothing else, campaigning for it would shine a spotlight on University managements – what have they got to hide? What do they want to tell a small group that they can’t say openly?
...working out exactly how to achieve genuine fairness and work-life balance, could be the most powerful recruiting tool the union movement has ever had.
The process of members scrutinising their agreement in detail, and working out exactly how to achieve genuine fairness and work-life balance, could be the most powerful recruiting tool the union movement has ever had.
•
Fleur Taylor, Victoria University
One thing that has caught my imagination recently is the concept of radically transparent bargaining meetings, in which discussions and
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
13
VACCINATION
MEMBER EXPERT
Could a France-style vaccine mandate for public spaces work in Australia? Legally, yes, but it’s complicated Several jurisdictions overseas have introduced vaccine requirements for entry into public and private spaces such as schools, restaurants, public venues, and for domestic travel. Attention is turning to whether these policies would work in Australia and at what point they might be introduced. An important consideration is whether the mandates are seeking to protect people against COVID transmission in key sectors or spaces, or whether governments are using them as a lever to push up vaccine rates in the population at large. While both can be legitimate, they are different policy goals and governments need to be transparent about which one they are pursuing.
Katie Attwell University of Western Australia
Marco Rizzi University of Western Australia
14
Israel, the first jurisdiction to introduce a vaccine passport, has utilised this measure intermittently, depending on the transmission risk and coverage rates. This suggests the Government has used it as a strategy to increase vaccine coverage overall. EU countries are also utilising vaccine passports, but they have had design and implementation issues.
Image: Sylwia Bartyzel
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
Despite ongoing protests to the measures in France, and to a lesser extent Italy, surveys show the majority of people in both countries approve of the measures. They have also led to a rapid increase in bookings for vaccinations. New York City has also mandated vaccination for certain public spaces – the first government in the US to do so. There is a legal basis to do so: the Supreme Court ruled in 1905 that states could require residents to be vaccinated against small pox or be fined.
CAN IT BE DONE HERE LEGALLY? There is scope for Australian governments to impose a similar 'vaccine passport'.
MEMBER EXPERT It’s important to bear in mind this kind of mandate is very different from forced vaccination (where an individual is forcibly inoculated). Rather, mandates create a set of negative consequences in cases of noncompliance. The most obvious example in Australia is the 'No Jab No Play' policies that restrict access to childcare in most states for children who are not fully immunised. In the same vein, COVID-19 vaccination could be made mandatory for specific purposes, such as access to certain public or private spaces, travel, or certain types of employment, such as the pending vaccine requirement for aged care workers. From a legal perspective, the key limitation for government mandates pertains to discrimination. The mandate must not discriminate, and therefore exemptions must be available for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
There is no protection under Australian law, however, for 'discrimination' against people who are opposed to vaccination because of their personal beliefs.
PUBLIC & PRIVATE MANDATES DIFFER
There is no protection under Australian law, however, for 'discrimination' against people who are opposed to vaccination because of their personal beliefs. Countries like France and Italy have dealt with vaccine refusal by enabling people to show proof of a recent negative COVID test as an 'opt-out' measure to the vaccine mandate. This is good behavioural science, since it makes the option available – albeit more burdensome – than the default of vaccination. Private sector vaccine mandates are also feasible in Australia for COVID-19 and other diseases. These
However, this could become more widespread in Australia after the Fair Work Commission ruled in several cases this year that it was reasonable for employers in the aged care and child care sectors to insist on flu vaccinations for staff. Unsurprisingly, it looks like the Fair Work Ombudsman may be open to a tiered system of employment mandates.
VACCINATION
mandates can apply to workers, clients, or both, provided they align with existing employment and consumer laws. Unlike in the US, where many major companies are mandating COVID vaccines for employees, the measure is still framed in Australia as a possible exception to the general rule.
Mandates may be easier to establish and implement in the private sector because companies are generally subject to less scrutiny and accountability than governments. They can also rely on arguments about their duty of care to workers and clients. International research also shows the private sector is highly trusted, and this can provide a useful anchor if companies ask their workers or clients to vaccinate. (There is a difference, of course, between providing vaccinations at a workplace or requesting it of employees, and demanding it!) Moreover, private companies lack some of the constraints that governments face. Government vaccine continued overpage...
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
15
MEMBER EXPERT VACCINATION
mandates must be linked to other conditions for which governments are responsible and accountable, such as the available supply of vaccines. A broad-based government mandate in the absence of adequate supply could be subject to court challenge and risk being political suicide. By contrast, private entities do not share the same level of responsibility for providing vaccines when enacting such mandates on clients. In the case of vaccine mandates for employees, however, the duty to provide vaccines is much higher. Accordingly, it is heartening that companies introducing employee mandates are taking steps to ensure their workers have easy and funded vaccine access. It would be great to see more companies doing this without introducing mandates first. Despite the fact that private sector mandates may be easier to introduce, the complexity of exemptions and enforcement leads us to prefer government mandates.
WOULD WE SUPPORT VACCINE MANDATES? ...the obstacles to the introduction of vaccine passports are not only legal, but highly political.
Our research shows Australians are broadly supportive of vaccine mandates, and our recent unpublished work indicates they prefer vaccine passports to other kinds of mandates (such as punishments or financial incentives). However, the high levels of support for government mandates we saw in our survey last year may not be the same now, given public perceptions
16
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
of the Government’s vaccine rollout failure. Australians may be less trusting of government, and therefore, less supportive of government-mandated vaccinations. This demonstrates that the obstacles to the introduction of vaccine passports are not only legal, but highly political. To appear legitimate, a mandate needs to serve clearly articulated public health goals and be proportionate. (In particular, it has to be effective, reasonable and without a less invasive alternative available.) Mandates can be good public policy when they are appropriately designed and defensible from ethical and epidemiological perspectives. These attributes are largely within government control. However, when governments do not take sufficient action to address hesitancy in the community, this can create the conditions that make mandates appear attractive or necessary. Our research shows this was the case in Italy with childhood vaccines. The danger here is that all roads automatically lead to mandates, without governments first exhausting other important strategies to encourage vaccinations. Excellent public communications targeted to specific groups, and making access to vaccines as easy as possible, are two no-brainers.
•
Katie Attwell is Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia Marco Rizzi is a Senior Lecturer in Law at UWA This article first published 13 August 2021 in The Conversation
Predictors of professional engagement
RESEARCH PROMOTER
Drs Leah Kaufmann and Luisa Batalha at Australian Catholic University are conducting a study that aims to understand what factors contribute to peoples' professional engagement. NTEU members are invited to participate in the survey. The study takes up to 50 min to complete (should take much less). Survey participants will be asked about themselves, their beliefs, and attitudes in relation to various social and workplace issues. Both Luisa Batalha and Leah Kaufmann are social psychologists with extensive expertise in surveying social-psychological issues.
'We would like to understand what social-psychological factors may influence people to engage with their workplaces and workplace groups such as trade union,' they said. 'To this end, we constructed a survey with questions that tap into various social-psychological variables such as demographics, beliefs
RESEARCH
RESEARCH PROMOTER
(e.g., just world endorsement), attitudes to trade unions, identification with workplace.' Click here to start the survey.
•
Laser acupuncture for shoulder and neck pain in office workers Are you Perth-based, working more than 28 hours per week with sedentary office work and experiencing shoulder and neck pain? If you're thinking about having acupuncture to manage the pain, you are invited to take part in this research. The aim of this study is to provide compelling evidence of the feasibility and therapeutic efficacy of LLLA for office workers with shoulder and neck pain.
should take you no longer than 20 minutes to complete. Following the completion of the survey, you will be randomly allocated to one of the two groups:
Participation in this research project will involve completing an online survey which will require you to sign a consent form, completing a set of questionnaires including demographics questions and questions to measure pain levels, work productivity and activity, quality of life, and information on the use of nonpharmacologic therapies for your shoulder and neck pain. The online survey
1. Receive six laser acupuncture therapy sessions from a licensed acupuncturist at ECU Acupuncture Research Clinic. Each session lasts 10-20 minutes, three times a week for two weeks. 2. Receive NO treatment over the two-week trial time. You will receive a complementary laser acupuncture therapy after the trial.
vol. 2 no. 6
•
nteu.org.au/sentry
At the end of two-week trial time you will receive an online link to complete the post-intervention questionnaire. To participate, please email Dr Carol Wang, c.wang@ecu.edu.au. This study is being conducted by ECU's Dr Carol Wang, Professor Lisa Whitehead, Dr Travis Cruickshank, Dr Johnny Lo, Dr Jun Wen, and Associate Professor Jianhong (Cecilia) Xia from Curtin University.
•
Visit our website to find out more about NTEU's Research Promoter.
17
ELECTIONS
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
NTEU national elections finalised Following extensive delays due to COVID-19 lockdowns, elections have now been finalised for all National, Division and TAFE Branch collegiate elections. With the exception of one contested election still to be declared in WA, the collegiate election results have now been declared. This declaration means the previous office bearers have ceased to hold office, and the terms of office of the new office bearers have already commenced.
and the following Ordinary Members, elected by National Councillors: • Nikola Balnave (Macquarie) • Heather Benbow (Melbourne) • Kate Berniz (Flinders)
Congratulations to all the successful candidates and thank you to all members who took part in our democratic process.
• Andrew Bonnell (UQ) • Michael Callaghan (Deakin) • Vince Caughley (UTS)
NEW NATIONAL EXECUTIVE
• Sam Green (UWA)
The NTEU National Executive is comprised of the three National Officers, the eight Division Secretaries
• Ruth Jelley (Swinburne)
Executive also includes the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy Committee Chairperson; Sharlene Leroy-Dyer has been elected to this position.
For a full list of declared positions, see the report here. NTEU Division websites will show updated lists of Division Councils and Executives soon.
• Andrea Lamont-Mills (USQ)
•
• Terri Mylett (UWS)
Please update your NTEU membership details if:
OR
Your work address details change.
OR
Your Department or School changes its name or merges with another.
Office, building, campus etc.
You change your name.
Update online at
You are leaving university employment.
Send an email to
OR
You move house. Required if your home is your nominated contact address.
nteu.org.au /members
Please email the National Office if:
OR
OR
You move to another institution.
Your employment details change.
Transfer of membership between institutions is not automatic.
Please notify us to ensure you are paying the correct fees.
Your credit card or direct debit account details change.
OR
Deductions will not stop automatically.
national @nteu.org.au
If your payroll deductions stop without your authority, please urgently contact your institution’s Payroll Department
18
Sentry
•
SEPTEMBER 2021
