With increased vaccination rates likely the only way out of the lockdown hokey pokey that has plagued Victoria for the last few months, the City of Ballarat has been encouraging staff to get the jab and even allowing them to book their appointment during work hours.

City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King said encouraging vaccinations was a regular part of his weekly communications with staff.

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"I write a weekly newsletter out to all staff and, for quite some time, there's been a key component in that around encouraging staff to get vaccinated and really explaining the benefits of that to the organisation, to the community and to them personally as well," he said.

"We're also allowing staff to get vaccinated during work hours. We work with staff around what's the best timing to do that to have the least impact on our service delivery, but we believe that is a really important component of providing the opportunity for people to get vaccinated as soon as possible."

Mr King said it was important for council to lead from the front in Ballarat's vaccination push.

"It certainly is really, really important that council, as one of the largest one of the larger employers in the city, leads by example and demonstrates the importance," he said.

"We can't be sending the message out, asking everyone to get vaccinated if we're not leading by example so that's why there's been significant encouragement of the organisation and the provision of that ability to get vaccinated during work hours."

While some businesses have given incentives to vaccinated staff, Mr King said it would be inappropriate to do so with ratepayers' money.

"We've not considered providing any incentives or any financial incentives. Council is funded through rates, our community works incredibly hard to pay their rates and we have a really significant obligation to make sure we use those funds appropriately," he said.

"I think there's enough incentive out there to get vaccinated without having to provide financial assistance or gifts or any of those sorts of things. You get vaccinated, that will prevent future lockdowns, it will prevent future illness and allow us to get back to a normal way of living.

"I've had lots of positive feedback from the organisation around our encouragement of staff to get vaccinated, particularly those services that are front facing and interact with the community. All we can do is continue to encourage staff and provide time for them to be able to get vaccinated."

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