Stage 4 COVID-19 restrictions mean that from midnight tonight (5 August), workplaces across Melbourne must be closed unless the workplace is part of a “permitted activity” or all the employees are working from home.
Permitted activities include in-home disability and aged care support work including personal care and domestic assistance. Large fines will apply for employers who issue permits to employees that do not meet the scheme eligibility requirements or those who are found to be breaking these rules in other ways. There will also be on the spot fines for people who are caught travelling to and from work without a permit.
Eligibility, instructions and a permit template for employers and sole traders can be found online at www.vic.gov.au/worker-permit-scheme. Access to Childcare Permits are available at the same place.
If you need help understanding or accessing the scheme you can call us for free on the COVID-19 Disability Information Helpline on 1800 643 787 Monday to Friday between 8 am and 8 pm AEST.
I self manage my NDIS package and support workers, what do I need to do?
If you are an NDIS participant and you, your family member or carer self-manage your package, you may be the direct employer of the support workers who come into your home. If your support worker works for a third party or a disability service provider, you do not need to do anything in relation to their worker permit. Worker permits are needed for essential staff that need to travel to get to and from work. Workers will need a letter from their employer, which might be you.
If your worker is a sole trader, they can do a letter for themselves, which may save you some paperwork.
If it is you though, there is a template to use, which you can download here: Permitted Worker Scheme Template (DOCX)
If you do not have a printer, we suggest you can fill it out and use a photo or a screenshot of it, until a hard copy can be made available.
Go to Live in Victoria? Need to know COVID-19 info here or read our FAQ from people with a disability in Victoria for more.
Access to Childcare permit
Victorian Government’s Stage 4 COVID-19 restrictions mean most children in metropolitan Melbourne will not be able to attend child care for the next six weeks. Children of permitted workers without any other option and vulnerable children will still be able to access childcare.
If you or someone else in your household can look after your kids at home, you must continue to do that. The new Access to Childcare Permit will sit alongside the Permitted Worker Scheme. The Premier of Victoria, the Hon. Daniel Andrews has released a media release with updated guidelines about the arrangements here on the 9th August.
Permitted are able to access onsite childcare and kinder if there is no one else in their household who is able to supervise their child/ren.
This may be for a range of reasons including the other parent could be a full-time student and must attend onsite, has a disability, or be working from home such that they cannot supervise the child, or there may be no other adults in the household.
Early childhood care and education services in regional and rural Victoria can continue to operate as normal under Stage 3 restrictions, with appropriate safety measures in place.
Both carers do not have to be permitted workers to access childcare - but they are asking that Victorians only access childcare and kinder services if they have to.
In line with the above, permitted workers are also able to continue with pre-existing in-home care arrangements if there is no one else in their household who is able to supervise their child.
Grandparents and elderly relatives play an important part in caring for children but may be particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. The government strongly advise these types of care arrangements are avoided where possible.
The Federal Government is providing financial support to child care centres as it did during the nationwide lockdown in March and April. You can read more detail about the Federal support package here.
A further permit for Access to Childcare is available online at vic.gov.au/permitted-worker-scheme.
