Potential for discrimination Human rights body urges caution on vaccine passports

The nation’s human rights watchdog has urged state and federal governments not to impose vaccine passports unless other restrictions are removed at the same time, warning they had the potential to discriminate against vulnerable Australians.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has opened the door to the use of vaccine certificates domestically on the basis it will encourage more Australians to get vaccinated faster under national cabinet’s planned four-phase reopening of the country, but stressed it would have to be imposed by the states.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has suggested vaccine certificates are a matter for the states.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

A growing number of Coalition MPs are speaking out against the use of vaccine certificates for domestic travel and attendance at venues and events, with at least two threatening to cross the floor if the government brings on legislation.

In an advisory note, the Australian Human Rights Commission said any move to impose vaccine passports or certificates should be “reasonable, necessary, and proportionate” and “must take into account the potential for discrimination”. It said groups that could be discriminated against include people who have a medical reason not to be vaccinated, individuals who seek to avoid contact with government agencies including migrants and vaccine-hesitant Australians.

“Until everyone in Australia has access to a vaccine, any vaccine passport model that applies to everyone would be unfair. The priority focus should be on ensuring people are vaccinated,” the commission said.

“If and when a vaccine passport is introduced, its use would need to be flexible enough to ensure that people who are unable to be vaccinated do not face discrimination, particularly in accessing essential goods and services.”

While the human rights body said it couldn’t provide specific advice until governments had adopted a model for passports, it said as a general principle they should only be used as an alternative for existing restrictions.

There is growing unease within the Coalition about what kinds of restrictions will remain in perpetuity despite the four-phase plan. In an apparent break from national cabinet’s position, Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said on Sunday he will pursue a policy of zero COVID-19 cases in his state even after it reaches an 80 per cent vaccination rate.

The issue of vaccine passports remains contentious within the Coalition, with several MPs from its conservative ranks voicing their opposition against any mandatory system. Several more MPs are prepared to support the system for both international and domestic travel but want it ruled out for supermarkets and other essential activities.

Victorian Liberal MP Russell Broadbent, who has not ruled out voting against the measure in Parliament, put a call to constituents to hear their views and had been receiving about 1000 responses a day.

“There are strong arguments on both sides, and others are concerned about preserving the freedoms that are enjoyed,” he said.

In a sign of the sensitivities within the party, Mr Morrison attempted to bat away a question from a journalist on Sunday who asked whether there should be a nationally consistent approach.

“What the government simply does is provide a digital certificate of vaccination,” he said. “There are discussions that are being had to try to seek to have some uniformity about how exemptions might apply to vaccinated persons at the state and territory level because that is the only place those exemptions can be provided.”

The Opposition’s industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said on Sunday any move to mandate workers be vaccinated must be made by an official public health order and not by individual businesses.

“We don’t want a situation where these rules are different from one workplace to the other, not based on a health reason but based on where an employer goes,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program.

Australians can download a vaccine certificate from their MyGov accounts â€" a secure online portal that stores Australians’ personal information - onto a digital wallet on their phone.

The government’s expenditure review committee of cabinet last month backed a proposal for QR code vaccination certificates, which would eventually lead to quarantine-free international travel. It would involve linking people’s vaccination status on their MyGov accounts with new digital vaccination certificates and border declarations.

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Anthony Galloway is foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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