Victoria’s health department confirms ‘advisers must be vaccinated to attend work premises’

As of this week, unvaccinated advisers risk hefty fines if they fail to comply with Victoria’s new COVID worker directions introduced in early October.

According to a directive issued by the Victorian government, authorised workers must have had a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by 22 October at the latest, to work outside the home.

Authorised workers include those who provide a financial service (as defined in section 766A of the Corporations Act 2001), or "works in connection with the provision of such a service".

Victoria’s Department of Health confirmed for the ifa that accountants and financial advisers are in fact considered authorised workers and that this directive applies to them.

“Accountants and other financial services providers must work from home if they can,” a spokesperson for the department said.

“They can only attend their office or usual work premises if it is not reasonably practical to work from home and they have either had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or hold a medical exemption.” 

Firms that do not comply are liable to fines of over $100,000, while unvaccinated staff working “onsite” risk being fined over $20,000.

The department reminded that, according to the rules, professional services workers, including accountants and other financial services providers, must be fully vaccinated by midnight on 26 November 2021, unless a medical exemption applies.

Further, in line with the rules, professional employers (including advisers) are also tasked with ensuring their workers can prove they have received their first vaccination by 22 October and are fully vaccinated by 26 November.

As employers, accountants and advisers are thus asked to collect, record and hold information about compliance with the above.

“The advice from the Burnet Institute and all our public health officials is that vaccination remains our best protection. As authorised workers are currently moving around Victoria the most, it’s vital they get vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and all of Victoria,” Premier Daniel Andrews said in early October.

The Burnet modelling showed that the key to opening up and reducing risk in Victoria would be making sure workers across the state are vaccinated.