Edwards v State of Queensland (Queensland Health) [2022] QIRC 091
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Title
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Edwards v State of Queensland (Queensland Health) [2022] QIRC 091
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Date
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March 18, 2022
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Summary
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Ms Lisa Edwards (‘the appellant’) was employed as a Business Support Officer in a Clinical Governance Unit by the State of Queensland and appealed against the decision to refuse her vaccine exemption application, primarily on the basis that her refusal was not grounded in any genuinely held religious belief but rather, vaccine hesitancy arising out of concerns regarding the effiacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccination specifically.
In making the decision, the Commission referred to the Health Employment Directive 12/21 which required COVID-19 vaccinations for health service employees but allowed an exemption application to be considered in a range of circumstances, including where an employee has a genuinely held religious belief. The appellant submitted that the vaccination requirement is contrary to the right to protection from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (section 17(c)). The Commission acknowledged that whilst the Directive impacted the rights to equality, non-discrimination and the right not to receive medical treatment without consent, however it did not find that the Directive could be reasonably characterised as enaging the right to protection from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, provided for in section 17(c) of the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld): at [42]. The respondent’s decision was confirmed and the appeal was dismissed.
