To: CCF Victoria staff, members and stakeholders.

Good morning.

By now, all of us will have heard, or read, media reports over the last 24 hour period on the easing of COVID-19 restrictions announced by the Premier. 

I refer you all to the below links to the Media Release from the Premier’s Office distributed yesterday afternoon, together with the Roadmap covering the easing of restrictions in Metropolitan Melbourne. 

https://www.ccfvic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/201026-Statement-From-The-Premier.pdf

https://www.ccfvic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/201026-Metro-Melb-Easing-Restrictions.pdf

The basis for this easing of restrictions are the numbers.  There were zero (0) new positive cases reported in Victoria yesterday.  The 14 day rolling average in Metropolitan Melbourne is down to 3.6 in Metropolitan Melbourne and 0.2 in Regional Victoria.  There have also been no new positive cases in the Building and Construction Industry. These are indeed a great set of numbers we can all be extremely proud of.

What do these announcements and the move to the THIRD STEP of Community and Industry Restrictions mean for me?

Significantly for the Building and Construction Industry, we are now permitted to transition to the Third Step of our Roadmap (Open with a COVIDSafe Plan) from 11.59pm tonight, Tuesday 27 October, or as I would say, opening of business tomorrow morning (Wednesday).

In the Third Step, there are no workforce number restrictions in the Building and Construction Industry. However, the standards and precautions which have applied on worksites so far – ie: hygiene standards, physical distancing, temperature testing, declarations, contact tracing etc will continue to apply with High Risk COVIDSafe Plans deployed.  

All of these standards and precautions are explained in detail in Revision 8 of the Industry Guidelines – linked here. 

Industry Guidelines Rev 8 Final 16th October 2020

So in brief, we are now back to 100% workforce capacity and site visit limits on specialist contractors removed. All other additional obligations remain in place.

Other key announcements made include:

  • The 4 reasons to leave home have now been removed;
  • The 25km limit remains with some exceptions, including work;
  • All retail including auctions, hotels, cafes and hotels will open with density limited in place (staff are allowed to now enter the premises immediately and prepare for re-opening);
  • Real estate inspections are allowed in accordance with record keeping requirements and density limits of up to 10 people maximum from 2 households (excluding the real estate agent).
  • There will be changes to home visits, with further details to be released by the Premier today;

The next step is due to come into effect 11.59pm Sunday, 8 November 2020 and it is expected to include Intrastate regional travel being allowed, with the border separating Regional Victoria and Metropolitan Melbourne removed.  I will keep you abreast of further developments and announcements as they come to hand.

Until my next update …. keep well – keep safe.

Kind regards

John Kilgour

CEO, CCF Victoria