The move, which was announced on Thursday morning, would see all of SPC’s staff in Shepparton and across the country have both doses before November 15.
Staff will have paid time off for the jab and afterwards if they suffer side-effects, and management is meeting with unions on Monday.
Mr Drum called the move courageous and said the reasoning and timeline outlined by the company was “fair and reasonable”.
“It’s a courageous decision and one that sets the tone for corporate Australia, particularly in light of the threat the Delta variant poses to families, communities and business,” Mr Drum said.
“As explained by its chairman Hussein Rifai, SPC’s decision is based on overwhelming scientific evidence, and I certainly share the opinion that the benefits of being vaccinated far outweigh any potential side-effects.”
Mr Drum said people who were eligible for the vaccine but were yet to have the jab were “being selfish and holding Australia back”.
“People who actively choose not to get vaccinated will delay Australia’s road to freedom,” he said.
“I received my second dose of AstraZeneca last week, so I’m happy to be fully vaccinated and I urge others to do the same.
“Do your research before getting the jab, but please get your information from reliable and credible sources – not an online forum or chat group where conspiracy theorists lurk and where it is easy to become confused about what is real and what isn’t.”
Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed said she was surprised by the decision from SPC and hoped it would help improve vaccination rates in the Shepparton region, especially with the promise of paid time off to get the jab.
“I’m concerned by the low vaccination rates in our area,” she said.
“A large number of processing factory staff are unable to get vaccinated between 9am and 4pm on a weekday.”
Ms Sheed said it was a “big deal” for a company to make the vaccine mandatory.
“It’s been a conversation which is on the horizon for some time, and people will have to make a decision on it for themselves,” she said.
“We’re not going to reopen fully as a country until we get to 70 per cent vaccination rates, so it’s really important we encourage as many people as possible to get vaccinated.”
Victorian COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar welcomed the move by SPC to make staff vaccination mandatory but warned there may not be the supply available to achieve that.
"It's good to see, I think generally speaking, organisations starting to raise the bar on what people expect in terms of vaccination but we need the supply to come forward to enable that to happen."
Greater Shepparton City Council deputy mayor Rob Priestly said council supported efforts to increase vaccination rates across the region.
He said mandatory vaccinations in certain industries – such as some healthcare and abattoir settings – weren’t rare, and whether the coronavirus vaccine should be mandatory was something for employers and employees to figure out.
“It’s a conversation the community needs to be having,” he said.
