8 January 2021

Good Morning Queensland Members,

As some of you may now be aware, the Queensland Government and Queensland Health announced this morning (8th January) that in order to assist with contact tracing and reducing the spread of the COVID-19, the Greater Brisbane area will enter a three-day lockdown effective at 6.00pm.

This announcement and subsequent lockdown, requires that from 6:00pm tonight (8th January) people living in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton and Redlands will be required to stay home until 6:00pm Monday (11th January).  Lockdown restrictions have also been extended to anyone who has visited Greater Brisbane area since January 2, regardless of where they are in Queensland.

People in the designated lockdown areas will only be able to leave their home for four defined essential reasons, which are: essential for work, providing healthcare for a vulnerable person, essential shopping or to exercise (locally).  In addition, organised community sport has been cancelled for these areas, and people in the Greater Brisbane area will be required to wear a mask while outside their homes.

Following on from this announcement, I wanted to provide an update for members on discussions held with the Queensland Government this morning, and representatives from Queensland Health and Dept of Recreation, Sport and Arts.

Advice relating to Sports Turf Management

From this mornings discussions, the current advice is that people in the local government areas of Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Redlands and Logan will be required to stay at home except to attend work if you are unable to work from home.

This comprises Sports Turf Management and the ability to continue maintenance at sport and recreation turf facilities, as required by facilities – as on-site work is essential to complete responsibilities of the profession.

As at 10.00am, there are no directives provided as yet to the Queensland Government defining “Essential Work”, though updates are anticipated to this point prior to 1.00pm.  We are awaiting further updates on this in our next discussions at 11.00am.

As many of you would know, we have been in regular discussions with State Government departments outlined above since March of this year, continuing to stress the importance of maintaining turf sport & recreation facilities to the Government. These advocacy efforts relating to sports turf management industry requirements have resulted in exemptions being granted for turf management practices to continue on golf courses, recreational reserves and sporting venues throughout enforced lockdowns in Victoria, NSW and South Australia.

Our work to date with government departments related to the industry, impacts and development of essential maintenance directives for sports turf management has been shared to responsible Ministers and departments in the Queensland government, was emphasised again this morning and has been well received.  We believe this continues to place sports turf management in a strong position to obtain similar exemptions, should restrictions increase or extend in Queensland.

Statements from Queensland Health

A statement on Restrictions has been presented by Premier Palaszczuk and Yvette D’Ath (Minister for Health), which is available here: https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/91279

The full overview of Brisbane area restrictions and directions is available at: https://www.covid19.qld.gov.au/ 

Whilst there remains a level of uncertainty relating to the increase and spread of recent case numbers following the recently announced UK strain of COVID-19 and what this may mean for business and turf management activities, please be aware that the Association continues its advocacy for our industry and members, and we will continue to keep you and the GCSAQ committee updated as updates are received or as the situation develops further.

If you have any questions or concerns or require further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact myself or any of the team at the Association who are here to assist.

Thanks
Mark

 

 

Mark Unwin
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Sports Turf Managers Association