WA’s no jab, no job rules have eased, so what does life now look like for vaccine hold-outs?
When Western Australia’s workplace COVID vaccination mandates came into force on December 31, Perth prison officer Chris Pasco was stood down from his employment over his refusal to get the jab.
The unexpected lock-out led to the 34-year-old selling his home and travelling to Broome.
Chris Pasco has been travelling up north since he was stood down as a prison guard.
But six months on, with the mass mandate lifting this week, he has unexpectedly found himself in no rush to return to his former career.
“I believe everything happens for a reason and that I have made the best out of a bad situation,” Pasco said.
“I had to sell my house to survive as I was unable to afford a mortgage. Once my house was sold I hopped in my car and went on a road trip.
“I spent two months in Broome living in a hostel off the profits of my house, and I am now on my way to Cairns.”
Despite finding a silver lining, Pasco said the mandate had still caused him mental and financial hardship.
A day after Premier Mark McGowan announced the sweeping mandates which impacted 75 per cent of the workforce would fall, he was offered his job back. But Pasco is unsure if he will return.
“While it’s nice to be included in society again in my own country, it’s not easily forgotten,” he said.
WA’s strict proof-of-vaccination rules effectively locked the unvaccinated out of mainstream society earlier this year, with thousands prohibited from going to work, buying alcohol, watching a movie or sweating it out at the gym.
While the overwhelming majority of eligible West Australians ‘rolled up’ and received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, about 22,000 people steadfastly refused.
With the mandatory workplace vaccination policy scrapped from June 10 – except for those in high-risk settings such as disability, aged care and healthcare – many unvaccinated workers are able to return to their old jobs.
For many, the ostracism and loss of employment has left its mark.
Electrician and plumber Mick Ray lost his job at Alcoa due to the mandates but was fortunate he had a financial buffer that allowed him to take up to two years off work.
“I was more chilled but I was also definitely bored, lonely at times and did struggle with my mental health,” he said.
“I have two school-aged kids so I helped out more with them, I coached a soccer team and I helped friends out with some handyman work.”
Mick Ray used his time off work to coach his son’s soccer team.
Ray said since the mandates lifted he had received multiple offers of employment – but a return to Alcoa was off the cards for now.
The big miner, along with BHP, is yet to ditch vaccine mandates for its workforce.
Some of WA’s biggest retailers have also chosen to continue requirements for workers to be double-vaccinated against COVID-19, including Woolworths, Big W and Coles.
Perth resident Nina, who asked her surname not be published, said her partner lost his hospitality job when the mandates came into effect.
She said some of her unvaccinated family and friends working in retail and healthcare had not been able to go back to their jobs this week.
She said for many, life had not returned to normal and there was lingering debt and depression.