Changes to employers keeping vaccine information about staff

By Monique Preston

Jul 12, 2023

Changes: Regulations under the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (COVID-19 Vaccination Information) have now been revoked.

Regulations that had employers recording or holding COVID-19 vaccination information about their staff under the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (COVID-19 Vaccination Information) have been revoked.

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This means that employers who recorded or held COVID-19 vaccination information specifically under these regulations have 30 days to destroy that information, according to WorkSafe.

The regulations were introduced in mid-2022 following the removal of certain vaccination requirements under the Victorian pandemic orders and supported employers to collect, record, hold and use COVID-19 vaccination information from specified people attending a workplace under their management or control in order to determine and to implement reasonably practicable measures to control COVID-19 risks.

A specified person includes employees, independent contractors and their employees, volunteers and students on placement permitted to attend the workplace.

The destruction of information requirement does not apply to employers that are permitted or required under other laws to collect, use, record, or hold vaccination information, WorkSafe said.

Employers are reminded that a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status is health information protected by other legislation such as the Health Records Act.