The Victorian Chamber’s advocacy has helped secure significant wins in the Federal Budget with increased funding for skills and training, commitments for two Victorian freight terminals and a much-needed boost for regional tourism.

The Victorian Chamber is pleased to launch our Federal Election Platform, which pitches three big ideas that will benefit Victorian businesses and jobs, secure the progress of our state, and drive economic development into the future.

Habits can be hard to break and I’m sure we all felt a bit uncertain last week as office workers started to return after the better part of two years working from home.

‘Building back business’ and ‘building for our future’ are the cornerstones of the Victorian Chamber’s submission to the Australian Government ahead of the 2022-23 Federal Budget.

The State Government is dropping the ‘strong recommendation’ that Victorians work from home, while masks will no longer be needed in offices and most other indoor settings, following the latest update to Pandemic Orders.

The State Government has eased several restrictions around density limits, QR check-ins and surveillance testing, with changes to office settings flagged, but yet to be formalised.

After much debate the Morrison Government will not continue with legislation that included provisions to make discrimination on the grounds of religious belief or activity unlawful in a range of areas (including employment and education).

The Federal Government has announced plans to introduce legislation that will make COVID-19 testing expenses tax deductible for individuals and businesses when used to attend a place of work.

The Victorian Chamber applauds National Cabinet’s decision to reopen Australia's borders to all double-vaccinated visa holders on February 21, following an announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

If you were lucky enough to get in a break over the school holidays, you would have noticed the crippling effect that Covid-19 is having on our small businesses across the state.

In efforts to address current workforce shortages due to COVID-19 and aid Australia’s economic recovery, the Australian Government has amended visa conditions for student and working holiday makers.

Regulations that previously required WorkSafe to be notified if an employee, contractor or a contractor's employee received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and had attended the workplace within their infectious period have been removed.

The Victorian Chamber welcomes the State Government’s extension of rent relief and protections for commercial tenants and landlords for another two months due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional sectors will be relieved from close contact isolation requirements to ease supply chain bottlenecks and workforce shortages after an announcement today by the Victorian Government.

A third COVID-19 vaccination is now required for workers within certain essential industries, and close contact isolation arrangements have also changed for food and beverage distribution workers, as part of Victorian Government pandemic orders announced today.

It’s a brand-new year but if we were hoping that 2022 would be the opportunity to step out of the COVID washing machine cycle, we may have all been a tad premature in our optimism.