A COVIDSAFE UPDATE FROM EQUESTRIAN VICTORIA
15 October 2021
Important Message for Coaches, Volunteers and Paid Workers within Equestrian Sport.
New directions have been issued by the government requiring that from midnight 14th October, 2021, all workers and volunteers must meet new vaccination requirements in order to manage, coordinate or administrate community sport at physical recreation facilities across Victoria. All workers (see further below) onsite, including paid or unpaid volunteers at recreation facilities, will need to comply with the current authorised worker vaccination requirements.
The government requires that all workers, volunteers and professional sports people need to be fully vaccinated, or have had their first dose or show proof of having their first dose scheduled and administered by October 22nd. Full vaccination (double dose) must be completed by 26th November to work on site and administer sport at a recreation facility in Victoria. At this stage, no vaccination requirements have been announced regarding participants (competitors) within community sport. As soon as we have further information provided by the Victorian State Government, we will keep all members updated.
DEFINITIONS
For equestrians, these requirements will apply to our coaches, workers and volunteers at any physical recreation facility. The government provides the following definitions:
Workers and Volunteers at Physical Recreation Facilities
A physical recreational worker is someone who works at or in connection with:
- a facility used or partly used for sport (this includes any person working onsite such as course builders, vets, volunteers – paid and unpaid, officials etc), sport racing or physical recreation
- who provides personal training (coaching) services
What if I'm a volunteer or student on placement?
The vaccine requirement will still apply to you if you’re doing volunteer work, unpaid work or student placement work on-site.
Do authorised workers in regional Victoria need to be vaccinated?
Yes. These requirements apply statewide.
What if I have a medical exemption?
For those who have a medical exemption, more information can be found through this direct link that will take you to the FAQ’s for workers
https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/information-workers-required-be-vaccinated#faqs-for-workers.
Personal Trainers (ie Equestrian Coaches)
The government defines a personal trainer as:
- a person who is, or a body corporate that provides the services of, an exercise professional who provides individually tailored client assessments, program development, instruction and demonstration, supervised exercise sessions and client reviews and who operates a business that holds an Australian Business Number or Australian Company Number registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission;
- personal training means a service provided by a personal trainer or the worker of a personal trainer;
Therefore coaches, and any of their workers (paid or unpaid) will also need to meet the vaccination requirements.
Community Sport Return.
Details of the next phase as indicated in the Victorian Roadmap have still to be announced. The roadmap currently INDICATES a return to community sport when the state reaches 80% of 16+ fully vaccinated. The INDICATIVE date is 5 November 2021. However, this date is subject to Public Health consideration of epidemiology at the time, which means that until the Chief Health Officer makes a formal announcement, we can only use the roadmap as a guide.
Once a return to sport has been announced we expect Specific guidelines and COVID settings to follow. We will provide guidance and resources to enable a safe return, and to help clubs and event committees navigate their way through the requirements announced by the government.
Online Briefings
We also wish to thank all those who participated in the recent COVIDSafe briefings, and we have had great feedback across the equestrian community. The slides presented will be available on our website shortly, along with our FAQs. Further briefings will be held once we have received government guidelines and settings.
Services Victoria App and Proof of Vaccination
The updated Services Victoria App is now available to download from the Apple Store and Google Play. Over the past 18 months, we have all become familiar with the need to use a QR code to check in to a facility, shop, restaurant etc. Using the Services Victoria App is how most of us will provide proof of vaccination.
Instructions on how to add your certificate to the Services Victoria App can be found here: https://service.vic.gov.au/covid-19/add-covid-19-digital-certificate
For those who do not have a smartphone, you can call Services Australia on 1800 653 809 and ask them to send your Immunisation History Statement to you. It can take up to 14 days to arrive in the post. You can also print your COVID-19 digital certificate available on MyGov at home. Further troubleshooting help can be found on the Coronavirus website.
https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine-certificate-trial#how-to-get-your-proof-of-vaccination
There will be adjustments ahead as we work our way through how events and competitions will run in this next phase.
If you have questions or queries, please email: [email protected]
Above all, keep safe.
References
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