Update: Members are advised to rely on the most recent news stories and Bulletins only, as government advice and regulations will continue to change as the COVID-19 situation develops. The advice below was correct at the time of publication.
The Victorian Government has reviewed the rules for Stage 4 lockdown requirements in metropolitan Melbourne. The following information is what VACC understands to date and it cannot be guaranteed that further changes and clarifications won’t be made by government. If regulations do change, VACC will update members accordingly.
The Chamber’s job is to provide the best interpretation of government rules, but ultimately VACC members will need to make business decisions based on their particular conditions and the work they intend to conduct.
Many members are looking for 100 percent clarity on very specific issues, but this does not exist and probably won’t over the coming weeks. The best test to apply, throughout this period, is for members to ask themselves, “Am I working within the rules and within the intentions of the COVID-19 Stage 4 lockdown?” If members cannot answer “yes”, then it is VACC’s advice that they should not conduct the job.
VACC has made its views on the restrictions clear with government and it has sought as much clarity as possible, to help members do their work and to limit any potential penalties that may impact them. But members are reminded that VACC’s information changes as the government’s does.
As an overview, VACC has a number of distinct COVID-19 requirements that determine what type of work can be undertaken, and these include:
- Stage 3 lockdown areas in regional Victoria and members in these areas can carry out their work normally, as long as these businesses have the appropriate COVID-19 personal and business safety measures in place
- There is a Stage 4 lockdown for the metropolitan Melbourne area, which means there are express conditions around work that can and cannot be undertaken. The primary guide for what work can be conducted is found in the Stage 4 restrictions table, which outlines Permitted Work Premises and the sort of work that can be undertaken in those categories. For instance, in the transport, postal and warehousing sectors, vehicle repairs and critical maintenance, including disinfecting, can be undertaken on vehicles in that category. The intention of the Stage 4 lockdown is to keep essential vehicles in this category on the road, through the provision of repairs and critical maintenance
- Up until this Wednesday, 5 August, VACC maintained with government that scheduled and logbook servicing for all vehicles was critical for the maintenance of the health and safety of Victorians, and lobbied for this position on behalf of the industry and to maintain a safe vehicle fleet
- On Thursday, 6 August the State Government expressly advised VACC that only services covering essential and critical ‘Vehicle repair, servicing and maintenance' were permitted to open for on-site work, and this does not include routine servicing. For the sake of clarity, VACC interprets this to also mean that logbook and scheduled servicing are not permitted
- Outside of repairs and maintenance that members undertake in the table of Permitted Work Premises, members can undertake work on other vehicles where it is essential and critical
- The State Government has not defined what 'essential and critical' means and is unlikely to do so. Members should be careful. The term is not essential or critical, it is essential and critical. It needs to be both
- Members need to use their professional experience, based on the circumstances in front of them, if a vehicle service or repair job meets that test. If the assessment is questionable, VACC advises members not to undertake the work. The assessment has to take into consideration the conditions for each vehicle and those of the vehicle owner. If a tyre has blown out, the windscreen is cracked or the brakes are ineffective, it is VACC’s interpretation that these scenarios constitute essential and critical circumstances and therefore work could be undertaken
- The spirit of the lockdown is to keep people apart and that includes customers attending your business premises. The movement of vehicles to workshops needs to be contactless. The safest thing to do is to freight or tow vehicles to your premises to remove any contact between staff and customers.