On 23/24 July 2021 Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a statement to the media and Australia concerning informed consent.  In this statement the PM made it clear that in Australia: “ … we are all responsible for our own health … That in our country ‘people make their own decisions about their own health and their own bodies AND THAT IS WHY WE DON’T HAVE MANDATORY VACCINATIONS … ”

Health care workers received correspondence on August 24th (one month following the PM’s address) to inform them that it is mandatory for them to have the vaccine by Tuesday September 30th.

When we care for our patients, they need to first give consent for a procedure once being informed of the risks and benefits of the procedure and able to freely choose to undergo or decline the procedure.

In the Australian Government’s Immunisation Handbook under Section 2.1.3 Valid Consent, it states that for consent to be legally valid “It must be given voluntarily in the absence of undue pressure, coercion or manipulation.”

If we were to force a procedure on one of our patients it can amount to the criminal offence of battery, and or the tortious offence of trespass against the person.   

Now you are giving us a deadline to receive the vaccine.

There are laws, regulations and policies that protect our right of informed consent in receiving a vaccine or any medical procedure, including but limited to:  

· The Commonwealth Constitution s.51(xxiiiA) which prohibits civil conscription into medical and dental services.  

· The Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) s.95 prohibits the use of force for vaccination.  

·  The Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) s.92 prohibits vaccination or treatment without an individual Biosecurity Control Order with stringent requirements.  

·  Article 6 of the UNESCO statement on Bioethics and Human Rights, Section 1, states “Any preventative diagnostic and therapeutic medical intervention is only to be carried out with the prior free and informed consent of the person concerned, based on adequate information. The consent should, where appropriate, be express and may be withdrawn by the person concerned at any time and for any reason, without disadvantage and without prejudice”.  

· Nuremberg Code, Article 1, states “The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential”.  

· The Siracusa Principles, adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council in 1984 provide authoritative guidance on government responses that restrict human rights for reasons of public health or national emergency.   These Principles state that measures taken to protect the population that limit people’s rights and freedoms must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate.

·  Section 83.4 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which relates to interfering with political liberty states “Any person who, by violence or by threats or intimidation of any kind, hinders or interferes with the free exercise or performance, by any other person of any political right or duty shall be guilty of an offence”.  

These were enacted because people's human rights were ignored!

It is not okay to force a medical procedure on a patient. How is it okay to be forcing a medical procedure on us? We do not want the vaccine for various reasons, which are private to us. No one needs to know the reason we decline and that should be respected. We should not be punished for not undertaking something we do not consent to.

This mandate will affect both the mental health and financial positions of many health care workers and their families. 

This mandate will also affect the staffing of health care facilities, which are presently in need of all the staff they can get.