Advisers eager for widescale reopening once jab targets are met

A poll of 1,368 people across accounting and financial advice conducted by CPA Australia has revealed Aussie professionals are eager to see state and federal governments follow through on their promises to immediately reopen borders and end lockdowns once national vaccination targets are reached.

In fact, as many at 39 per cent of respondents expect a full-scale reopening, regardless of COVID case numbers, once those vaccine targets are met.

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A lesser 34 per cent expressed more caution, noting their preference for an end to lockdowns but only if case numbers were low.

According to Australia’s National COVID-19 Response Plan, agreed to by all the states and territories, once 80 per cent of Australian adults are fully vaccinated, lockdowns are to become a thing of the past and international borders are set to reopen.

The governments have also agreed to ease lockdown restrictions once the country reaches a 70 per cent jab rate across the adult population.

Speaking to ifa, CPA Australia general manager of external affairs Dr Jane Rennie revealed that uncertainty around lockdowns is causing “a huge amount of pain” for businesses.

“Our members include many financial advisers who are often small business owners or employees themselves. I think this perhaps could be why so many people voted to reopen borders regardless of COVID-19 case numbers,” Dr Rennie said.

The CPA uses a variety of channels, including polls on social media, to seek the views of its members to inform its policy and advocacy activities. The popularity of this poll in particular, Dr Rennie said, reveals just how important this issue is to Australians right now.

“I think most people just want a clear plan for when they can get on with their lives and businesses,” Dr Rennie said.

But the CPA’s poll also showed that as many as 22 per cent of professionals believe it is up to each state and territory to decide when they want to open, while 5 per cent were unsure as to the right approach.

“Certainly, there’s still some hesitancy towards reopening even once vaccination targets are met,” Dr Rennie recognised.  

“It’ll be interesting to see how this changes as we get closer to meeting them.”