Over 400 Australian Teachers Stood Down for Not Getting Third COVID Vaccine

Prep teacher Bronte Darvidis speaks about sanitizer to students at Lysterfield Primary School in Melbourne, Australia, on May 26, 2020. Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Victoria’s state government has suspended around 420 public school teachers for not complying with the state’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

The majority of the teachers were put on leave without pay because they failed to get a booster shot by March 25.

Premier Daniel Andrews has continued to maintain the vaccination mandate for school teachers, reasoning that it helps save lives.

“I’m not going to apologise. Vaccines work, vaccines save lives, and I’m very confident that people who have had one or two (doses) will get three very quickly, and I thank them for that,” he said.

“I’m just about sick and tired of this constant negativity when it comes to schools. Our schools were open on day one of term one. Our absentee rates in staff, support staff and students are lower today than it was before the pandemic.”

Under the current Victoria’s vaccine mandate, education workers and several other types of employees are required to present to their employers proof that they have taken three doses of a COVID vaccine or a medical exemption.

Those who did not meet the booster deadline on March 25 were forced to take a leave and not allowed to work.

The state’s Department of Education said nearly all public teachers in Victoria had complied with the vaccination rules.

“As of April 26, 99.2 percent of the Victorian government teaching service have had three doses of a COVID vaccine and are permitted to attend work,” a department spokesperson said.

“We encourage any staff members who have not yet had their third dose to book in to protect themselves, their families and their school communities.”

Among the jurisdictions in Australia, only Victoria and the Northern Territory require teachers to be vaccinated with a booster dose.

A cleaner is seen cleaning high-touch areas in preparation for students returning to Lysterfield Primary School in Melbourne, Australia, on May 25, 2020. Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the Victorian government has announced that from 2023 it would combine the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), which is granted to students completing their senior secondary education, and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), a senior secondary certificate of education that has three award levels.

Starting next year, the state government will introduce the new VCE Vocational Major and Victorian Pathways Certificate.

The former is a two-year vocational and applied learning program that will replace Senior and Intermediate VCAL, while the latter will replace Foundation VCAL.

Victorian taxpayers will have to foot the bill for what the state government called “the biggest reform to the senior secondary system since the VCE’s inception,” with a price tag of $277.5 million (US$196.5 million).

Of the above amount, $120.2 million will go toward helping schools implement the new certificates. In comparison, $69.4 million will be used to expand the Head Start apprenticeships and traineeships program, and the remaining $87.9 million will be spent on recruiting and training vocational teachers.