Dear Member,
The NSW Government has announced the Greater Sydney lockdown will be extended until the end of September. It also announced the following:
Additional rules for the LGAs of concern :
From 12.01am Monday, 23 August the following additional rules will apply for residents and businesses in the LGAs of concern:
- Curfews will be introduced from 9pm to 5am (except for authorised workers, emergencies or medical care) to help reduce the movement of young people;
- Outdoor exercise is limited to one hour per day;
- The following retail premises must close except for click and collect: garden centres and plant nurseries, office supplies, hardware and building supplies, landscaping material supplies, rural supplies, and pet supplies (tradespeople are allowed to shop in-store where relevant); and
- All exams and other education or professional development related activities will move online, not including the HSC. The government will provide further information on its education plan in due course.
The following new restrictions around workplaces and authorised workers from the LGAs of concern will be introduced:
- Childcare workers and disability support workers who live or work in the LGAs of concern must have their first vaccination dose by 30 August;
- Authorised workers who work outside their LGA of concern are only permitted to work if rapid antigen testing is implemented at their work-site or they have had their first vaccination dose by 30 August.
- From Saturday, 28 August, authorised workers from the LGAs of concern are required to carry a permit from Service NSW declaring that they are an authorised worker and cannot work from home; and
- From Saturday, 28 August, anyone entering an LGA of concern for the purposes of work must carry a worker permit issued by Service NSW.
From 12.01am Monday, 23 August, workers from the Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland and Fairfield LGAs will no longer have to have been tested for COVID-19 in the previous 72 hours to work outside their LGA.
To read the NSW Government media release, please click here.
Permit system
The NSW Government has released the below guidance for travel between Greater Sydney and regional areas. Please note it does not yet include details of the permit system for LGAs of concern which was announced in today’s (Friday) press conference.
A permit system for some travel between Greater Sydney and regional NSW will take effect from 12.01am on Saturday 21 August.
Under the updated public health order, the following people traveling from Greater Sydney to regional NSW require a permit:
- anyone from Greater Sydney (including authorised workers from the LGAs of concern) who needs to travel more than 50km from Greater Sydney for work purposes, noting the existing requirement for such workers to have had a COVID test in the previous seven days
- people travelling to a second home outside Greater Sydney. This is now only allowed if you are using the home for work accommodation or if the home requires urgent maintenance and repairs (if so, only one person may travel there)
- people inspecting a potential new residence, but only if they have a genuine intention to relocate as soon as practicable (no investment properties)
- people who are permanently relocating.
For the purposes of this public health order and permit, Greater Sydney will no longer include Shellharbour and the Central Coast. People travelling to Shellharbour and the Central Coast for the above reasons will require a permit to do so.
Taking a holiday to a second residence is not a reasonable excuse to leave home.
Permit applications will be made available on the Service NSW website.
For further information please click here.
NECA will continue to keep you briefed as we get further guidance and clarification.