COVID-19 : NOVEL CORONAVIRUS
WEDNESDAY 5 MAY 2021
Please find below a selection of recent legislation changes relating to COVID-19 and communications for workplaces from key safety and environmental regulators in Australia and New Zealand.
This update is provided on a weekly basis.
LEGISLATION CHANGES
Please note: The legislation in this update was current at time of release. Legislation around COVID-19 is frequently updated and revoked. The URLs provided may no longer be maintained by the relevant legislative website, after the release date.
ASIC Corporations (Amendment) Instrument 2021/315
- Implements temporary measures aimed at facilitating financial reporting by listed and unlisted entities whose reporting processes take additional time due to current remote work arrangements, travel restrictions and other impacts of COVID-19.
- Requires passengers on a relevant international flight not to enter Australian territory at a landing place if the person has been in India within 14 days of the day the flight was scheduled to commence.
Defence Determination, Conditions of Service Amendment Determination 2020 (No. 28)
- Among other things, amends the overseas reunion provisions to relax COVID-19 restrictions relating to the overseas reunion travel to the member’s posting location overseas and maintains flexibility for the dependant to reunite with another person in Australia.
- Clarifies the types of former Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa (Subclass 600 visa) holders who can apply for a new Subclass 600 visa with a nil visa application charge where their travel to Australia has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Health (COVID-19 Areas of Concern) Notice 2021 (No 27)
- Requires anyone who is entering the ACT or already in the ACT and has been in the Perth or Peel regions in the last 14 days to complete an online declaration form within the 24-hour period prior to entering the ACT, or by 12pm 5 May if they are already in the ACT.
Interstate Exposure Venues Direction
- Requires persons who have visited an interstate exposure venue to quarantine.
Management of Close Contacts Direction (No.2)
- Requires persons who are close contacts with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 to quarantine.
Approval of Extension of a Major Emergency Declaration Under Section 23
- Extends the Major Emergency Declaration for a period of 28 days commencing 1 May 2021.
Emergency Management (Cross Border Travel - Associated Direction No 7) (COVID-19) Direction 2021
- Subjects all overseas arrivals (other than New Zealand arrivals) to Level 5 requirements.
Restricted Activity Directions (Victoria) (No 14)
- Restricts the operation of certain businesses and undertakings in the Restricted Areas in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 - came into force at 11.59 pm 30 April 2021.
Victorian Border Crossing Permit Directions (No 11)
- Makes minor clarifications to some restrictions currently in place, in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 - came into force at 11.59 pm 30 April 2021.
- Limits the number of Victorians attending Work Premises to assist in reducing the frequency and scale of COVID-19 outbreaks in Victorian Workplaces and to establish more specific obligations on employers and workers in relation to managing the risks - came into force at 11.59 pm 30 April 2021.
COVID-19 Public Health Response (Exemption for Quarantine-free Travel) Notice (No 3) 2021
- Imposes an additional condition on an exemption under clause 4(1) of the QFT exemption notice requiring a statement be made by, or on behalf of, a person before boarding the aircraft regarding whether they are a close or casual contact and have satisfied isolation and testing requirements.
COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021
- Prevents, and limits the risk of, the outbreak or spread of COVID-19 by requiring work at certain places to be carried out by affected persons who are vaccinated.
Notice Under Section 37 of the Medicines Act 1981
- Prohibits the importation, manufacture, packing, sale, possession, supply, administration or use of any vaccine for immunisation to prevent COVID-19 unless the Minister has given consent or provisional consent and the importation of the vaccine is made in accordance with all the conditions imposed by the Minister.
- Waives the prescribed requirement under Regulation 10(2)(e)(iii) of the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 for certain applicants for a Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Limited Visa to provide a Chest X-Ray certificate.
- Specifies appropriate evidence for the purposes of the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border) Order (No 2) 2020.
FROM THE REGULATORS
Queensland Government:
Queensland Health:
- Brisbane International Airport Green Zone Breach Update
- Brisbane International Airport Locations Listed as Exposure Sites
- New Qld Direction Kicks in as WA Records Three New Cases
- PNG Passengers Tested Following Brisbane Green Zone Error
- Queensland Health Implements New Interstate Exposure Venues Direction
Department for Energy and Mining:
- New Cross-border Direction (No 6) Re. Travel from WA
- Western Australia COVID-19 Outbreak: Update for SA Resources Sector
SA Government:
New Zealand Government:
- Brisbane Airport Green Zone Breach - Updated Advice for Travellers
- Brisbane Airport Green Zone Breach Update
- Flights from Western Australia to New Zealand Paused
- Flights to Resume from Western Australia
- New Zealand to Donate 25,000 Courses of COVID-19 Vaccines to Fiji
- New Zealand Responds to COVID-19 Crisis in India
- NZ Cook Islands Travel Bubble Significant Step in COVID-19 Recovery
- Travel Pause with Western Australia will Lift Tomorrow
Ministry of Health:
That completes this edition of the COVID-19 update. The next update will be released on Wednesday 12 May 2021.