10/10/2021
🛍🦠🛒 CHANGES TOMORROW FOR BUSINESS OWNERS, STAFF & CUSTOMERS 🛍🦠🛒
So many of you have contacted me over the last few days with questions about what changes occur tomorrow (Monday 11 October) in the Northern Tablelands and what it means for your business, your employment, or your ability to enter various places.
I thought it might be easier to post something up here - in as simple language as possible - to help provide some clarity about what happens tomorrow and how it will impact you.
Please bear with me, as this gets a little involved…..
Basically, the only businesses/business premises that are impacted by tomorrow’s COVID Roadmap changes are the following (ie. if your business/work is not in the below list then it continues to operate as per normal):
🔹Hospitality venues (eg. pubs, registered clubs, cafes, & restaurants)
🔹Places of public worship
🔹Entertainment facilities (eg. cinema, theatre, concert hall)
🔹Public swimming pools
🔹Retail premises, but NOT critical retail premises (I will list these further down in the post)
🔹Indoor recreation facilities (eg. gyms, bowling alley, squash court)
🔹Major recreation facilities (eg. showgrounds, racecourses, motor racing tracks)
🔹Hairdressers
🔹Beauty/tanning/waxing/nail salons
🔹Tattoo/massage parlours
🔹Properties operated by the National Trust or Historic House Trust
🔹Gaming lounges & betting agencies
🔹Auction houses
🔹Markets that do NOT predominantly sell food
🔹Information and education facilities
From tomorrow, a person who works at any of the above businesses/business premises MUST have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
For customers, to enter any of the above businesses/business premises, from tomorrow, you must be fully vaccinated. You can, however, still access click and collect and takeaways at the above businesses/premises.
For the owners of businesses/business premises in the above list, you must take reasonable steps to prevent unvaccinated people entering your premises.
As a general guide, the process and procedures you follow in your business/premises for QR code check-ins is the same you should follow for the vaccination status of customers (to meet your ‘reasonable steps’ obligations) as the same rules apply for both under the Public Health Order.
Placing vaccination requirements posters & information at the entry of your premises, alongside Service NSW QR code check-in material, for example, is also recommended.
For the purposes of the above list of impacted businesses, the below are defined as critical retail premises (ie NOT impacted by the changes tomorrow, so NO vaccination requirements for staff or customers):
✅ chemists and pharmacies
✅ garden centres and plant nurseries
✅ hardware and building supplies
✅ kiosks
✅ landscaping material supplies
✅ rural supplies
✅ shops that predominantly sell food or drinks (eg butchers, bakeries, fruit shops & delicatessens, but does not include restaurants or cafes)
✅ shops that predominantly carry out repairs of mobile phones
✅ shops that predominantly sell any of the following in the course of the normal operation of the shop: (i) office supplies, (ii) pet supplies, (iii) newspapers, magazines or stationery, (iv) alcohol, (v) maternity or baby supplies and (vi) medical or pharmaceutical supplies.
✅ supermarkets & grocery shops
✅ timber yards
✅ vehicle hire premises but NOT the premises at which vehicles are sold.
Again, if you business/place of work is not specifically mentioned in the first list (with the 🔹) then there are NO vaccination requirements for staff or customers from tomorrow. This means you continue to operate just as did last week.
For those, like me, who like to read the Public Health Orders, you can find the latest one, which details all the new requirements, here https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/file/Public%20Health%20(COVID-19%20General)%20Order%202021.pdf)
The best source of information I’ve found that may be helpful as guidance to businesses are here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/business/covid-safe-business
And this one is great for all the printable posters and signage: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/business/covid-safe-business/toolkit
Apologies if this is still not clear. I know some of this stuff is complex and there will be a lot of confusion for a while, but I think if we all do our best and exercise a degree of commonsense we’ll get by.
I’ll continue to do my best to answer your questions and/or concerns and my staff are available to assist you as well in my Moree and Armidale offices.
Everyone has done such a great job so far, keeping our region safe and getting the vaccination rates up and rising very quickly now. Let’s keep it up!
Stay safe and take care everyone.
Adam.
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