Severe restrictions on the construction sector and other industries in Victoria are set to remain in place and there remains no clear date by which the sector will return to normal operations after the Victorian government failed to provide a clear roadmap out of the state’s lockdown.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that current lockdown restrictions would be extended indefinitely.

The restrictions had previously been set to expire on Thursday night.

Indeed, only minor adjustments will be made.

Under these adjustments, playgrounds will reopen and in-home care such as baby-sitters will be extended to cover school aged children.

A more substantive easing of restrictions will only occur once 70 percent of the population has had their first dose of COVID vaccines.

Based on current vaccination rates, this is expected to occur on September 23.

When this happens:

• Construction sites will be allowed to have up to 50 percent of their normal workforce on site – subject to a requirement that 90 percent of workers on the site in question will have to have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccination.
• There will be additional easing of social restrictions including an extension of exercise time to three hours per day and an extension of the travel limit for shopping and exercise to ten kilometres.
• Private inspections of unoccupied premises for a new purchase or an unoccupied lease will be permitted for up to one household at a time.

Further potential easing of restrictions may be announced for regional Victoria next week. However, details on what this will entail remain unclear at this stage.

For the construction sector, the steps referred to above mean that a significant increase in capacity will be delivered with the next stage of easing once the 70 percent target for first vaccinations is reached.

Under current restrictions, large construction sites are restricted to 25 percent of their usual workforce in the case of large construction sites, ten workers per hectare in the case of early-stage land development projects and five workers plus a supervisor for small sites. Exemptions apply for critical infrastructure and emergency repairs.

Beyond the next stage of easing, however, there was no clear roadmap for the state’s pathway out of lockdown.

This will disappoint many who had been hoping for a more detailed reopening plan.

It will also be difficult for many small businesses, who face the prospect of remaining closed or restricted for several months.

In a statement, Andrews said the limited reopening was necessary in light of the ongoing level of community transition and the number of unlinked COVID cases.

There are currently 900 active cases in the state whilst 58 people are in hospitals – 21 in intensive care and 14 on ventilators.

Andrews said opening too soon and allowing the virus to run free would result in the hospital system being overwhelmed and frontline staff being placed under undue pressure.

Virus spread must be contained, he said, until a greater proportion of the population is vaccinated.

“This is not where we wanted to be as a community, but we need to keep cases low so we can get more people vaccinated,” Andrews said.

“So my message is: if you are over 18 and you want to keep you and your family safe, don’t wait. Astra Zenca is available now. Make a booking to get vaccinated.”

Property Council of Australia Victorian Executive Director Danni Hunter welcomed the announcement about the increase in construction capacity once the first vaccination target is met but expressed disappointment about the ongoing lockdowns and its impact on business.

Hunter called on the government to work with business to develop a strategy for the state’s economic recovery which is graduated as vaccination rates increase.

This is a welcome first step in what we hope will be a phased full reopening of the construction industry which is so important to Victoria’s economy and has enforced strict COVID safety standards throughout the pandemic,” Hunter said, referring to the increase in construction capacity at the next stage of easing.

“However, we are disappointed that a phased return to office is not at all in the Government’s thinking and we know this is critical to the revival of Melbourne’s CBD and Victoria’s broader economy.

“It’s now clear that this sixth lockdown is a much longer and deeper one than we all had hoped and is having disastrous consequences for many businesses, thousands of jobs and the mental health of the Victorian community at large.

“Melbourne has now clocked up 211 days in lockdown and counting. The construction industry is just keeping the lights on, and Melbourne’s CBD has ground to a halt as people have been forced to work from home and many good businesses and their people are simply at breaking point.

“Office vacancies are at their highest rates since the end of the recession in the 1990s as office occupancy has plummeted and the construction industry is running at just 25 per cent of capacity despite enforcing world class COVID-safe guidelines throughout the pandemic.”