As restrictions ease in Melbourne, businesses may also soon get a reprieve under a plan to trial vaccine passports from as early as next week.
Melbourne businesses could be allowed to reopen under a plan to trial vaccine passports from as early as next week.
City of Melbourne councillors will on Tuesday vote to lobby the state government to immediately roll out the passport scheme at selected venues across the CBD.
Some of Melbourne’s most renowned hospitality, arts and entertainment venues – including Garden State Hotel, Cherry Bar, San Telmo and Asado – could open their doors to fully vaccinated Victorians.
It would make the city one of the first municipalities in the state to pilot the temporary scheme, which has so far only been proposed in regional Victoria. Only fully vaccinated Victorians – including staff at the participating businesses – would be eligible to participate in the proposed health pass.
The Night Time Economy Advisory Committee (NTEAC) – made up of leaders from the sector – is championing the pilot program, and has called on the Victorian government to let them reopen sooner.
NTEAC chair James Young said trialling a health pass system would minimise health risks and help get struggling businesses open sooner.
“An opt-in trial in the City of Melbourne is the perfect opportunity to identify and resolve issues in partnership with industry and government,” Mr Young said.
“It would require streamlined technology and processes to minimise the compliance burden on businesses and venues of all sizes, and to ensure the system is rolled out quickly and effectively.”
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the City of Melbourne had been doing “everything it can” to get more Victorians vaccinated in a bid to reopen the city. “Nowhere in Australia has been hit harder by devastating lockdowns than Melbourne, and our businesses should be the first in line to reopen safely,” Ms Capp told the Herald Sun.
“They’re prepared to do whatever it takes.”
City Activation portfolio lead Roshena Campbell said now was the time to explore options that could safely reopen city businesses and protect livelihoods.
“Our city’s businesses have been crippled after six lockdowns and the earlier businesses can reopen, the quicker our city can recover,” Ms Campbell said.
The scheme would only operate until vaccination levels are sufficient to lift health restrictions.
Councillors will vote on whether they will advocate for the health pass at the Future Melbourne Committee on Tuesday September 21.
SMALL FREEDOM FOR FULLY JABBED
Fully vaccinated Melburnians will be able to gather in larger groups under new freedoms that will, for the first time, be given exclusively to those who have received both doses.
People yet to be vaccinated – or those who’ve had just one dose – can only gather with one other person under a slight easing of the city’s lockdown.
Premier Daniel Andrews gave the green light to picnics and outdoor social interaction for groups of two from Saturday, after the state was set to hit its 70 per cent first-dose vaccination target.
But Melburnians who have received two doses will be able to gather in groups of up to five, plus dependants, from two households.
For everyone, the 5km movement restriction will extend to 10km, people will be able to spend up to four hours outside per day, and outdoor gyms and skate parks will reopen.
“We know this is what the community is craving – the notion of being able to see the people they love and care for,” the Premier said. “These are modest (changes) … but they are not unimportant. They are meaningful.”
Victoria on Thursday recorded its highest daily case figure since August 4 last year, with 514 local cases, including 366 mystery infections.
While fully vaccinated Melburnians – along with double-dosed people living in locked down Ballarat – would gain slightly greater freedoms, Mr Andrews said the larger gatherings would be subject to an “honour system”.
Mr Andrews confirmed police would not patrol parks to question a person’s vaccination status.
Despite picnics being allowed to take place, there would be no changes to current laws that make it illegal to remove a mask to drink alcohol outside the home. But the Herald Sun understands police would not actively seek to enforce that direction.
“We are not going to have police in every park. We are not going to have police out there requiring people to prove they have been vaccinated,” Mr Andrews said.
“There’s a degree of good faith in this. I’m asking people to do the right thing.
“We can’t literally have a situation where we are going park by park, picnic by picnic. That’s not an invitation to break the rules.”
Melbourne will continue to live under a curfew, with Mr Andrews maintaining he had received no health advice to lift the controversial measure, despite NSW scrapping it. “The curfew works … It’s proportionate to the challenge we face,” he said.
Friends Isabella Jenkins and Cylina Tran will be among Melburnians toasting the small step out of lockdown, saying it was a welcome reprieve from spending most of the time indoors.
And Andy Marriner said his daughter Neave, 4, was thrilled she could return to the skate park, having only picked up skateboarding a few months ago. “We’ve got some lessons booked in now for next week,” he said.
Meanwhile, restrictions in regional Victoria – except for Ballarat – will ease further, with gyms, outdoor and indoor pools to reopen.
Mr Andrews will on Sunday unveil a highly awaited road map to more freedoms, which will be tied to vaccination rates, including a 70 per cent double-dose target.
He said the state was due to hit that milestone about October 26, and 80 per cent fully vaccinated as soon as “a matter of weeks later”.
MAP YOUR 10KM RADIUS
VAX FOR ENTRY BACKED
Two in three Australians believe fully vaccinated people should be allowed to attend public events and activities without any restrictions.
But almost a quarter disagree with excluding those who haven’t had their Covid jab.
A new Melbourne Institute survey released on Thursday reveals most Australians (57 – 68 per cent) agree with denying unvaccinated people access to certain public events and activities.
But when asked whether the government should require businesses to deny service to unvaccinated customers, support dropped to 50 per cent of respondents, and more than a quarter disagreed.
The survey of 1200 Australians aged 18 years and over also found vaccine hesitancy has reached a low of 14.4 per cent in Victoria, paving the way for the state to reach the magic 80 per cent double vaccinated target.
The figure is made up of 9.4 per cent of respondents, who say they are not willing to be vaccinated, and 7.3 per cent who are still unsure.
It’s the biggest drop in Australia, falling from a previous high of 20.2 per cent on August 20.
BACKLASH OVER MANDATORY JAB FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
Construction workers are scrambling to get the jab and worksites are bracing for disruptions as new coronavirus restrictions are imposed on the industry.
Under rules announced on Thursday, every worker on a Victorian construction site is required have their first vaccine by September 23.
Movement of construction workers between Melbourne and regional Victoria will also be banned in an effort to limit outbreaks similar to the one unfolding in Ballarat.
Deliveries of materials will be allowed but the policy will be strictly enforced for anyone who works on site.
Read the full story here.
STRAIN SAPS TEACHERS
Teachers are facing burnout with increased workloads amid the ongoing demands of remote learning.
The Herald Sun has seen an email exchange between a teacher and a principal from a high school in Melbourne’s southeast, with the teacher saying she was under “incredible stress” and was “unable to cope” with the demands of remote learning.
Another teacher, from a school in Melbourne’s east, told the Herald Sun she was thinking of leaving the profession due “ongoing stress”.
“It’s been so challenging, I am having to work at least an extra 15 hours a week just to keep up,” she said.
Australian Education Union Victorian Branch president Meredith Peace said Victorian teachers, principals and education support staff had done a remarkable job rising to the remote-learning challenges.
A Department of Education spokesman said: “The Victorian government has invested more than $51m to support the health, safety and wellbeing of Victorian government school staff as part of the Safe and Well in Education Strategy, and the department will continue to support teachers in their work and wellbeing.”
REGIONS STILL BOOMING
Melbourne’s exodus to sea and tree-change areas is tipped to continue, with demand for regional property “on steroids” as a result of ongoing lockdowns.
The number of people leaving the city accounted for 47 per cent of Australia’s net internal migration total in the last financial year, with 26 per cent of those metro-leavers settling in regional locations nationwide, according to data from Commonwealth Bank and the Regional Australia Institute.
The June quarter Regional Movers Index revealed the local government areas recording the biggest growth in migration from city dwellers were all within a three-hour drive from the CBD.
They include Moorabool, which had a 68 per cent increase, Mansfield, 62 per cent, and Corangamite, where population surged by 52 per cent.
The Murray River area, located in NSW, was next in line (48 per cent), followed by Alpine region (47 per cent).
Greater Geelong also saw a significant influx of Melburnians, with an increase of 26 per cent during the year to June 2021.
WE’RE NATION’S ONLY SHRINKING STATE
Victoria shrunk by 42,900 people last year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed.
The only state not to grow, Victoria’s population decline was equal to losing a city the size of Wodonga.
Queensland saw the highest growth, with an extra 43,900 people, while other states saw low or modest increases – with NSW’s population increasing by 11,700 people and WA by 15,000.
Australia’s population grew by 35,700, to an estimated 25.7 million. The 0.1 per cent increase is the lowest since WWI.
The data reflects the first full year of the pandemic’s impact on the country’s population, with overseas migration negative for the first time since 1946.
The ABS also revealed Victoria’s unemployment rate fell to a record low as fewer people looked for work during lockdown.
The bureau released its latest monthly employment figures on Thursday, revealing the jobless rate fell to 4.1 per cent in August.
However the figure does not reflect the reality of the job market, as underemployment rose to 9.1 per cent as thousands of people with jobs worked reduced or zero hours.
Nationally, the jobless rate fell to 4.5 per cent – the lowest since the global financial crisis in 2008.
The low jobless figure was driven by a 0.8 per cent drop in the participation rate, which includes people with a job or looking for work.
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2021-09-16 12:15:48Z
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