A bakery in New Zealand has pleaded with customers to stop abusing staff if they are refused service as a result of not having a vaccine passport.

In a post online on December 3, the Rustic Bakery Café on the outskirts of Christchurch wrote that they were “disappointed and disgusted” by some behaviour in instances where customers were not able to produce a vaccine pass—behaviour which included swearing at staff and dangerous driving in the carpark, resulting in police being called.

Across the Tasman, the Queensland Government announced measures to combat such behaviour—extending to deliberately spitting, coughing or sneezing on a worker—before unvaccinated people are restricted from venues from December 17. These measures include on-the-spot fines of $1378 or up to $13,000 and six months’ jail if convicted in court.

In addition to these penalties, the Government is offering a TAFE course for businesses on how to handle aggressive patrons. This follows widespread concern from the industry about the types of responses businesses are likely to face as they start turning away unvaccinated customers.

Under the new restrictions in Queensland, staff and patrons will have to be vaccinated to enter hospitality venues, sports stadiums, theme parks, festivals, government-owned galleries, museums and libraries, and indoor entertainment venues including cinemas, but the responsibility for checking and enforcing falls on staff at these venues.