Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator O'Neill for her question. There are a few things that are relevant to that question. It is important that Australians be in a position to provide a form of proof of vaccination. The importance of that is likely to be the case for a number of reasons, not just medical reasons. That's why the government has been working in terms of the technology to enable people to download their vaccine certificate—as part of their Apple Wallet technology platforms, for example. It's also why work is underway for high-security proof-of-vaccination linkage to passport-type documents for international travel. A number of countries of the world have made it clear already that vaccination may be an important part of, or a requirement for, entry to their nations in the future. So Australians will likely need and require that sort of technology and support to be able to demonstrate proof of vaccination as part of their travels and their engagements.

In terms of requirements in relation to vaccination in Australia and for domestic travel, some airlines themselves have indicated that they expect this to be a requirement for travel. Those are, at this stage, commercial decisions. Governments have made certain decisions in relation to certain workforces, especially those such as aged-care sectors, where public health orders could be used in relation to vaccination. Once again, having effective proof of vaccination may well be a relevant consideration for people in those workforce environments and also perhaps for those visiting aged-care facilities or the like in the future, which is why having such technology available is important.