During a week which saw the continued decrease in the number of new COVID-19 cases across metropolitan Melbourne and soaring speculation that the government would ease restrictions, businesses were left frustrated as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced no major changes to the lockdown.

The Premier announced that 1 November had been set as the impending date to ease restrictions in Metropolitan Melbourne. That date may be brought forward if the number of new cases continues to stay low along with fewer ‘mystery cases’.

While most Melbourne businesses will have to continue to endure lockdown restrictions further, hairdressers can rejoice as one of the few industries given permission to reopen as of Monday morning. Housepainters, mobile pet groomers and automated car washes were also among the handful of industries able to reopen on Monday.

While businesses will remain in lockdown, the Premier announced that as of Sunday night, the five-kilometer rule will be extended to 25 kilometers along with abolishing the set amount of time a person can spend outside of the home.

The Victorian Chamber welcomed Daniel Andrews’ plan to reopen businesses sooner than later. VCCI Chief Executive Paul Guerra urged businesses to “do the right thing” to allow the government to lift restrictions.

“Now, with the Premier signalling the potential to open even earlier, the Victorian Chamber asks every Victorian to do the right thing so the Premier can announce full re-opening of business next Sunday,” said Mr Guerra.

“We have already heard from our hospitality and retail operators, and they are desperate to get back to work. That must happen over the next 10 days, and hospitality limits must be increased to 20 people per space indoors as part of a viable reopening. We need to ensure they can maximise every weekend from now, and enjoy a strong Christmas.”

“We cannot keep the state locked up. The contact tracing system is in place, businesses have COVIDSafe plans, and if every Victorian commits to doing the right thing with masks, social distancing and testing, we can again enjoy a sense of COVID normality, like we have seen in other states.

Shifting focus

In September, the state government unveiled its Roadmap to Recovery which gave a detailed timeline and number of cases required before business could reopen. Following intense lobbying, the government then scrapped the focus on the timelines and shifted focus to the number of cases to determine the easing of restrictions. Since then, Victorians have been watching the 14-day average with laser-focus, hoping for fewer and fewer cases.

On Sunday, the Premier moved the goalposts again, saying “with case numbers this low, it is much less about the numbers and is much more about the stories that live behind those numbers.”

The further easing of restrictions to metropolitan Melbourne, which the Premier has slated for 1 November, will see the reopening of retail and hospitality businesses, allowing 20 people inside each venue and 50 people outside. All beauty and personal services businesses will also be able to reopen.

Regional Victoria, which continues to report relatively few cases, will have restrictions eased again, including the increase of hospitality venues to have 40 people indoors and 70 people outdoors.

Help and support

For up-to-date information and resources to help you and your business get back to work safely, visit our Reopen, Restart and Recovery page of our website.

For more information on the Victorian Chamber’s advocacy work and current campaigns, along with submissions and taskforces, visit the Policy and Advocacy section of our website. If you have any questions or would like to be involved in our advocacy work, please contact policy@victorianchamber.com.au.