This article applies to employers in Victoria.
Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (COVID-19 Vaccination Information) Regulations 2022 (Vic)
Please be advised that the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (COVID-19 Vaccination Information) Regulations 2022 (Vic) (the Amending Regulations) commenced on 12 July 2022, amending the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic). The Amending Regulations insert the new Part 2.1A (Collection and use of COVID-19 vaccination information) to provide circumstances under which an employer may collect and use COVID-19 vaccination information and also when this information must be destroyed.
For the purposes of the Amending Regulations, COVID-19 vaccination information is defined in Regulation 21B as information about whether a specified person (being an employee of the employer, an independent contractor engaged by the employer, an employee of an independent contractor engaged by the employer, or a volunteer or a student on placement permitted by the employer to attend a workplace under the management or control of the employer):
- has received any dose of a vaccination against COVID-19, and if so, the date on which the person received the dose or if the person has received more than one dose, every date on which the person received those doses; or
- is unable to receive a dose, or further dose, of a vaccination against COVID-19 due to:
- a medical contraindication; or
- an acute medical illness; or
- the person being under 5 years of age.
This information may be derived from a record kept in the AI register under the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 (Cth), in the form of a letter from a registered medical practitioner or in the form of a certificate issued by Services Australia that states that the person is unable to receive a dose, or further dose, of a vaccination against COVID-19 due to a medical contraindication or acute medical illness.
Collection and use of COVID-19 vaccination information
In accordance with the new Regulation 21D, in order to perform a duty under Part 3 (General duties relating to health and safety) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), an employer may collect, record, hold and use COVID-19 vaccination information from a specified person who attends, or will attend, a workplace under the employer’s management or control to determine reasonably practicable measures to control the risks to health and safety associated with COVID-19 at that workplace or implement any reasonably practicable control measure to control the risks to health and safety associated with COVID-19 at that workplace.
Vaccination information held by the employer (prior to 12 July 2022) that was collected pursuant to the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic) is also authorised to be collected and used for the purposes of Regulation 21D for a specified person who attends or will be attending the workplace. For information relating to the collection and use of healthcare identifiers that may accompany COVID-19 vaccination information, please refer to the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 (Cth).
Destruction of COVID-19 vaccination information
Under Regulation 21E, an employer must destroy COVID-19 vaccination information recorded or held under Regulation 21D by 11 August 2023 (the specified destruction date, being 30 days after the revocation of Part 2.1A) unless a law of Victoria, the Commonwealth or another state or territory requires the information to be destroyed prior, or alternatively permits or requires the information to be retained after that date.
Please click here to access the full Amending Regulations.
