Hospitality venues in Western Australia's South West region are urging unvaccinated people not to take their frustrations out on staff when new proof of vaccination rules come into play.
From January 31, anyone who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be able to enter any hospitality venues, gyms, public and private hospitals, and other public places.
The new rules will come into effect as Western Australia prepares to open its interstate borders for the first time in two years on February 5.
Hospitality business owners in the popular tourist region of Margaret River are concerned that staff will face backlash from people who are not vaccinated.
'We don't have any choice'
Rob Gough owns Settlers Tavern and said they would likely have to have a staff member checking vaccine certificates at the front door.
"It puts hospitality workers at the coal face of a bit of a contentious issue," Mr Gough said.
"The message from our side of it is to please understand that everybody here is working really hard and doing what they need to do.
Mr Gough said policing the mandate also presents a new set of challenges for an industry that has been short staffed since the start of the pandemic.
He said they were waiting on more direction from the state government.
"The whole industry has been short staffed for a long time so this is yet another responsibility that we have, that we're going to have to dedicate some people power to," Mr Gough said.
Last minute vaccine bookings
Brenda Murrison owns several GP clinics in the South West and Perth regions and said COVID-19 vaccine bookings had surged lately in the lead up to the scheduled reopening of WA's borders.
She said some were people trying to get their final doses before the borders open, but others were getting their first doses in direct response to the proof of vaccination rules.
"The children's vaccines in particular are booked four or five weeks in advance and we don't have enough of them to go around, so that's a real issue."
