COVID-19 Updates 13 October 2021

COVID-19 : NOVEL CORONAVIRUS

WEDNESDAY 13 OCTOBER 2021

Please find below a selection of recent legislation changes relating to COVID-19 and communications for workplaces from key safety and environmental regulators in Australia and New Zealand.

This update is provided on a weekly basis.

LEGISLATION CHANGES

Please note: The legislation in this update was current at time of release. Legislation around COVID-19 is frequently updated and revoked. The URLs provided may no longer be maintained by the relevant legislative website, after the release date.

Defence Determination, Conditions of service (COVID-19 response - Overseas) Amendment Determination 2021 (No. 21)

Provides bespoke benefits as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic for members on duty overseas who are returning to Australia and their pets.

New South Wales

Liquor and Gaming Legislation Amendment Regulation 2021

Amends the Liquor Regulation 2018 to extend by 6 months the period within which specified temporary boundary changes to licensed premises may apply, among other things - came into force on 8 October 2021.

Order Issued by the Environment Protection Authority Under Section 115(2)(a) of the Pesticides Act 1999

Exempts, in the circumstances of an emergency, being the current COVID-19 outbreak in NSW, certain classes of persons from Section 39(4) of the Pesticides Act 1999 in relation to the training requirements of Pesticide Control Orders as specified - came into force on 7 October 2021.

Public Health Amendment (COVID-19 Penalty Notice Offences) Regulation (No 5) 2021

Updates provisions as a consequence of the repeal of the Public Health (COVID-19 Additional Restrictions for Delta Outbreak) Order (No 2) 2021 by the Public Health (COVID-19 General) Order 2021 - came into force on 11 October 2021.

Public Health (COVID-19 Additional Restrictions for Delta Outbreak) Order (No 2) Amendment (No 26) Order 2021

Amends the Public Health (COVID-19 Additional Restrictions for Delta Outbreak) Order (No 2) 2021 to extend the inclusion of certain local government areas and suburbs in the regional NSW area for stay at home areas until 11 October 2021 - came into force on 6 October 2021.

Public Health (COVID-19 Aged Care Facilities) Amendment Order 2021

Amends the Public Health (COVID-19 Aged Care Facilities) Order 2021 to limit the number of visitors of residential aged care facilities, and require visitors to be fully vaccinated, unless the visitor is visiting a resident at the end of life - came into force at 9 am on 11 October 2021.

Public Health (COVID-19 General) Amendment (No 1) Order 2021

Amends the Public Health (COVID-19 General) Order 2021 to prevent persons from entering or leaving Greater Sydney without a reasonable excuse, prevent unvaccinated adults from undertaking recreation outside the LGAs in which they reside, prevent persons residing in Greater Sydney from undertaking recreation outside Greater Sydney, prevent persons residing outside Greater Sydney from undertaking recreation in Greater Sydney, enable the CHO to identify stay at home areas by a notice published on the NSW Health website, allow certain employees and other workers who reside outside Greater Sydney to work on premises outside Greater Sydney if they have had 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, allow indoor swimming pools to be used in the general area for certain purposes, allow up to 10 persons to visit places of residence and holiday homes in the general area, include additional premises in the general area in which unvaccinated adults must not be present, enable up to 100 persons to attend significant events in the general area, enable up to 30 persons to attend certain outdoor public gatherings in the general area, enable choirs of no more than 10 fully vaccinated persons to perform at places of worship or in a religious services in the general area, remove the exemption from the requirement to wear fitted face coverings in the general area while working at a school, make further provision for the circumstances in which a person under 16 years of age who is not fully vaccinated may be present in higher risk premises in the general area, make it clear the term ‘vehicle’ does not include an aircraft, and to make other amendments in the nature of law revision - came into force on 11 October 2021.

Northern Territory

COVID-19 Directions (No. 54) 2021: Amendment to COVID-19 Directions (No. 38) 2021

Requires a person prohibited under direction 6 of the COVID-19 Directions (No. 38) 2021 who arrives in the Territory to leave the Territory as soon as possible and, until they leave, comply with Border Directions, unless the person is exempt.

Restrictions for Impacted Areas (No. 19) Direction

Requires people living in, or who have been in, or who reside with someone who has been in, an impacted area (Ipswich City Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Noosa Shire Council, Redland City Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Regional Council, Brisbane City Council, Gold Coast City Council, Logan City Council and Moreton Bay Regional Council) to wear a face mask.

Restrictions on Businesses, Activities and Undertakings Direction (No. 29)

Imposes requirements relating to businesses, activities and undertakings, collection of contact information using the Check in QLD App, and provision of contact information, among other things.

Rural and Regional Adjustment (Further Variation of COVID-19 Business Support Grants Scheme (August 2021)) Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2021

Amends the COVID-19 Business Support Grants Scheme (August 2021) further to provide for a one-off $5,000 ongoing hardship grant to certain businesses and non-profit organisations in the ‘border area’ if they have been continuously affected by ‘border closure events’ between 14 August 2021 and 14 October 2021.

South Australia

Emergency Management (Activities - Associated Direction No 15) (COVID-19) Direction 2021

Declares the whole of South Australia to be a declared area that is subject to level 1 restrictions, and modifies the Emergency Management (Activities - General No 3) (COVID-19) Direction 2021 in relation to definitions, density requirements, retail sale or hire, seated food and beverage consumption, gatherings at home, private activities and private functions, among other things.

Emergency Management (Cross Border Travel - Associated Direction No 57) (COVID-19) Direction 2021

Applies levels of requirements applying to people arriving from specified restricted zones, modifies the General Direction in its application to certain categories of people, imposes a requirement that most arrivals from high-risk jurisdictions be tested and have commenced being vaccinated against COVID-19, and imposes testing requirements on commercial transport freight workers, including those arriving from zones that are not restricted zones.

Emergency Management (Healthcare Setting Workers Vaccination) (COVID-19) Direction 2021

Maintains the provision of healthcare services operating in SA despite the presence of COVID-19 in the community, minimises the disruption to those services due to the spread of COVID-19 amongst healthcare setting workers, minimises the disruption to those services due to workers being furloughed following possible exposure to COVID-19 and reduces the risk of the spread of COVID-19 by healthcare setting workers to patients.

Direction Under Section 16 - Contact Tracing - No. 10

Requires persons to keep specified information for contact tracing and for persons to use the Check in TAS app to record the information required, among other things.

Direction Under Section 16 - Mandatory Vaccination of Certain Workers - No. 7

Prohibits persons from entering or remaining on the premises of a residential aged care facility or a quarantine site, or from providing quarantine transport services, unless they are sufficiently vaccinated, and from 31 October 2021, prohibits a person from entering or remaining on the premises of a medical or health care facility, or to provide a health and medical service or treatment, unless the person is sufficiently vaccinated, among other things.

Payroll Tax (Pandemic) Order 2021

Waives a relevant business employer from paying payroll tax under the Payroll Tax Act 2008 in respect of the taxable wages paid or payable to each eligible employee, employed in a relevant business of the employer, for the period commencing on 1 July 2021 and ending on 31 December 2021.

Area Directions (No. 25)

Identifies areas within Victoria which have a higher prevalence of, or risk of exposure to, COVID-19 and which are subject to specific directions which are reasonably necessary to protect public health - came into force at 11:59 pm on 8 October 2021.

COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Specified Facilities) Directions (No. 6)

Continues to impose vaccination obligations on operators of residential aged care facilities and construction sites and extends those obligations to operators of healthcare facilities and education facilities - came into force at 11:59 pm on 7 October 2021.

COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Workers) Directions

Imposes vaccination obligations upon employers in relation to the vaccination of various workers, in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 within the population of these workers - came into force at 11:59 pm on 7 October 2021.

COVID-19 Vaccinated Activities Directions (No. 3)

Imposes certain mandatory vaccination requirements in order for specific businesses (outdoor personal training in the restricted area and theatres in the Restricted Area and Regional Victoria) to provide goods or services to the public to limit the spread of COVID-19 within the population in these settings - came into force at 11:59 pm on 9 October 2021.

Restricted Activity Directions (Regional Victoria) (No. 14)

Restricts the operation of certain businesses and undertakings in Regional Victoria to address the serious public health risk posed to Victoria by COVID-19 - came into force at 11:59 pm on 9 October 2021.

Restricted Activity Directions (Restricted Areas) (No. 21)

Restricts the operation of certain businesses and undertakings in the restricted area to address the serious public health risk posed to Victoria by COVID-19 - came into force at 11:59 pm on 9 October 2021.

Stay at Home Directions (Restricted Areas) (No. 28)

Requires everyone in the restricted area to limit their interaction with others by restricting the circumstances in which they may leave the premises where they ordinarily reside, restricting public and private gatherings, including prohibiting visitors to another person’s home other than in limited circumstances, and requiring face covering to be worn indoors and outdoors - came into force at 11:59 pm on 9 October 2021.

Stay Safe Directions (Regional Victoria) (No. 13)

Requires everyone who ordinarily resides in Regional Victoria to restrict the circumstances in which they may leave Regional Victoria, limit interactions with other by restricting private and public gatherings and carry and wear face coverings at all times except in limited circumstances - came into force at 11:59 pm on 9 October 2021.

Workplace (Additional Industry Obligations) Directions (No. 50)

Establishes additional specific obligations on employers and workers in specific industries in relation to managing the risk associated with COVID-19 - came into force at 11:59 pm on 8 October 2021.

Western Australia

Extension of State of Emergency Declaration

Extends the state of emergency declaration for a period of 14 days.

COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Order (No 12) Amendment Order (No 5) 2021

Amends the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Order (No 12) 2021 in relation to travelling through the Auckland part of the alert level 3 area to go to work in the Waikato part of the alert level 3 area, adding the New Zealand Police to the list of businesses or services in Clause 23(1) of the Order, removing the description of the list of in-home services in Clause 29 to clarify that the clause only applies to those services, adding lifesaving and search and rescue services provided by the Royal New Zealand Coastguard and Surf Life Saving New Zealand, and workers carrying out those services, to the list of exemptions in Clause 53, adding legal services to execute documents to the list of permitted in-home services, and adjusting the description of the Waikato part of the alert level 3 area to include the Waipa, Ōtorohanga and Waitomo districts, among other things.

FROM THE REGULATORS

Australian Government:

Department of Health:

Australian Capital Territory

ACT Government:

New South Wales

NSW Government:

Northern Territory

NT Government:

South Australia

SA Government:

Tasmanian Government:

Department of Health and Human Services:

VIC Government:

WorkSafe VIC:

Accommodation Provider Charged for Alleged COVID-19 Breach

Western Australia

Department of Health:

School-Based COVID-19 Vaccination Underway this Week for Students

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety:

WA Resources Sector’s Biggest Year Ever Powering Nation Through COVID

WA Government:

NZ Government:

World Health Organisation:

That completes this edition of the COVID-19 update. The next update will be released on Wednesday 20 October 2021.

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