UPDATE 4 - Victorian State of Disaster - Permitted worker scheme and continued "essential service" advocacy for importers / exporters

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

PERMITTED WORKER SCHEME

From 11:59pm tonight (Wednesday 5 August), workplaces in Melbourne must be closed unless:

  • the workplace is part of a permitted activity, or
  • all employees are working from home.

Employers that require their staff to attend a work site must issue a worker permit to their employees – this is the employer's responsibility.

Penalties of up to $19,826 (for individuals) and $99,132 (for businesses) will apply to employers who issue worker permits to employees who do not meet the requirements of the worker permit scheme or who otherwise breach the scheme requirements.

There will also be on-the-spot fines of up to $1,652 (for individuals) and up to $9,913 (for businesses) for anyone who breaches the scheme requirements. This includes employers, and employees who do not carry their worker permit when travelling to and from work - further detail HERE.

ADVOCACY "ESSENTIAL SERVICES" FOR ALL IMPORTER / EXPORTERS

An excellent article in this morning's Australian Financial Review has brought the issue into focus Supermarket deliveries at risk from stage four lockdown - AFR (Jenny Wiggins).

Importers and exporters, want their services to be declared "essential".
 
"It is critical that all imports are allowed to flow otherwise we quickly have an estimated 300,000 containers over the next six weeks quickly congesting our wharves and impeding the delivery of all goods," said Paul Zalai, director of the Freight & Trade Alliance.
 
"We also need these import containers to be unpacked and made available for our exporters, in particular to support our struggling agricultural sector, that are expecting substantial crops this spring and are desperate to reach overseas markets."

Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) will continue its executive level engagement with the Victorian Government and anticipate that a favourable response will received with a requirement that warehousing and cold storage risk mitigations must be initiated in accordance with a 'High Risk COVIDSafe Plan' (effective 11.59 AEST Friday 7 August 2020) with employees to be in possession of appropriate permits.
RESTRICTED WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS

We note the Premier's statement that warehousing and distribution centres in Melbourne will be limited to no more than two-thirds the normal workforce allowed onsite at any one time. We are seeking clarity on whether this extends to Sec 77G operations and broader import / export operations.
BIOSECURITY FREIGHT SERVICES

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources have confirmed that their inspection functions are continuing under the recently announced restrictions.  DAWE are considered an essential service, so as long as the industries are operating, they will be continuing to regulate via their various functions (including inspections).  They do however require all third party premises that they attend to immediately notify if there is any COVID positive case/s within the facility (120-2020 – Requirement to notify of COVID-19 cases).  This enables DAWE to appropriately manage the risk to their staff that attend. 

With regards to audits, the majority, with the exception of some export facilities, are all being done remotely until further notice.  DAWE are hoping to move the remainder onto remote audits now as well.
FURTHER DETAIL

Please do not hesitate to contact me direct at pzalai@FTAlliance.com.au or 0408 280 123 - we will continue to update our dedicated 'State of Disaster' Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) site available HERE
Paul Zalai -  Director and Co-Founder, FTA / Secretariat, APSA