Mandatory vaccination rules in Western Australia are being eased for fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers and those working in the mining industry.
From June 10, COVID-19 vaccination mandates will be dropped for all workplaces, excluding healthcare, residential aged care and disability settings.
WA’s third dose vaccination rate (81.8 per cent among people aged 16 and over as of June 1) was a contributor to the change, as was the falling case numbers.
WA recorded 4849 new COVID-19 cases on June 6, a drop from the 6649 new cases recorded a week earlier and 12,399 new cases recorded on May 15.
McGowan said that despite the mandate being dropped, workplaces can still impose a requirement if they wish.
“If they wish to still do it (maintain a vaccination mandate) under workplace health and safety laws, they can do an analysis and still do it, and many private sector workforces will do it,” he said.
“With these changes, it means the remaining baseline public health measures are limited to mask-wearing, proof of vaccination and visitor limits in certain settings.”
McGowan also announced that from June 15, travel restrictions to remote Aboriginal communities will be removed, while unvaccinated Australians who are returning from overseas will no longer need to quarantine for seven days upon arrival in WA.
In October 2021, the WA Government announced a mandate for fly-in, fly-out workers and those across the state’s resources industry, whereby first doses were required by December 1, 2021 and full vaccination by January 1, 2022.
The new directions were initiated to address the risks associated with movement of resources industry workers to and from regional and remote WA locations.