Melbourne Covid work permit form: who is eligible and how do I apply?
From 11.59pm Wednesday 5 August all Melburnians who are still required to leave home for work must carry a work permit, which must be presented to law enforcement on demand.
About 8am on Wednesday Victoria’s justice department webpage that provided information about permits as well as the document download link crashed due to heavy traffic. The website has since come back online and the information has been published on other government websites.
Here is everything we know about the permit system so far. This information should not be considered legal advice.
Who is eligible?
Only workers from permitted industries are eligible and steep penalties apply for employers wrongly issuing them.
The industries allowed to continue on-site work were defined by the state government on Monday. This includes hospital and emergency service workers, supermarkets and pharmacy staff, and well as reduced numbers of abattoir and construction workers.
A full list of permitted industries can be found here on the Department of Health and Human Services site.
It is the employer’s responsibility to issue permits to all eligible staff.
What are the penalties?
According to the Department of Justice and Community Safety website, penalties of up to $19,826 for individuals and $99,132 for businesses can be imposed on employers who issue worker permits to employees who do not meet the scheme’s requirements or breach the stage-four lockdown rules in other ways.
There are also on-the-spot fines of $1,652 for individuals and up to $9,913 for businesses. These can be issued to those who do not carry their permits when travelling to and from work.
What information is needed?
To issue a permit, employers must provide the following information:
The business’s name, ABN, company address and trading name
The name and date of birth of the employee
The employee’s regular hours and place of work
They must also be able to prove their business has a “Covid-19 safe plan” in place.
Do employers have to use the permit form?
Yes. While the term “letter from employer” was used at several press conferences, this will not be enough to meet the scheme’s legal requirements.
The justice department website confirmed that “employers must use template for all worker permits issued under this scheme”.
The premier, Daniel Andrews, noted that some workers, especially those employed by the government with a uniform that connects them to their workplace, will be allowed to present their photographic employee identification. Law enforcement, emergency service workers and health workers are included in this category.
There is also an exemption for people at risk at home, including victims of family violence. The process for accessing this exemption has not been specified.
How to apply
To apply for a permit, employers must download the form and fill out all the required information.
Related: Victoria and Melbourne coronavirus map: where Covid-19 cases are rising or falling
An authorised person such as a chief executive, human resources manager or operations manager must then sign the permit, and this person will be “accountable for the details they provide”. They may be contacted by Victoria police or other government agencies to confirm the information.
The employee must then sign the permit, in person or electronically.
“An employee may travel to work without a worker permit once to get their first permit,” the website states.
The employee must then carry the permit, either as a physical document or electronically, as well as a photographic ID, when travelling to work.
These permits are not valid if a worker has tested positive to Covid-19 or is a close contact and is required to self-isolate.
