Commentary The Victorian state Labor government, led by Premier Daniel Andrews, adopted a tough “no jab, no job” health order to facilitate the re-opening of the state. This order, which is one of the strictest in the world, is not only controversial, but also suspect from a legal point of view. Even the World Health Organisation does not support vaccination mandates and, instead, favours more subtle forms of encouragement to cajole a country’s citizens into accepting a COVID-19 vaccine. The legal challenge raised by the “no jab, no job” order relates to the legislative authority of the states to make this order. Section 51(xxiiiA) of the Commonwealth Constitution constrains the federal parliament (as opposed to state parliaments) from adopting such an order. This provision stipulates that the Commonwealth parliament, among others, can make laws with respect to: “The provision of … pharmaceutical, sickness and hospital benefits, medical and dental services (but …
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