There are a number of additional restrictions around workplaces and authorised workers from areas of concern that will come into effect from this weekend. These changes will have an impact to our people, workplaces and operations so we are working on how we will support these new restrictions at Transport.
Permits for travel into and out of areas of concern – from Saturday
The updated Public Health Order states that from Saturday 28 August, authorised workers who live in an area of concern and leave that area for work, are required to carry a permit from Service NSW declaring that they are an authorised worker and cannot work from home. Permits will also be required for workers who need to enter those areas of concern for work but live elsewhere.
You are able to register for the required permit on the Service NSW website now. Please read more in our guide to applying for a travel permit.
To protect the people of NSW from the evolving COVID-19 outbreak, the stay-at-home orders now in place for all of regional NSW have been extended. The restrictions were introduced on Saturday 14 August and will now be in place until 11.59pm Friday 10 September 2021.
The restrictions follow updated health advice from NSW Health about the growing risk of the Delta variant of COVID-19 to the regional community of NSW.
This means that everyone in New South Wales must stay at home unless they need to leave for one of 4 essential reasons:
- Shopping for food or other essential goods and services in the local government area you live in or if you need to cross into another local government area, stay within 5km of your home
- Medical care or compassionate needs (including to get a COVID-19 vaccine)
- Exercise in groups of no more than 2 (unless form within your household) in the local government area you live in or if you need to cross into another local government area, stay within 5km of your home
- Essential work, or education, where you cannot work or study from home.
For our people who live or stay in regional NSW please be assured that you can continue to come to work if your work cannot be done from home and you do not need an Authorised Worker letter to do so. Be sure to understand what you can and can’t do under the rules.
We understand this is a difficult time for you and your local communities and remind you that it’s now more important than ever that if you have even the mildest of symptoms you come forward for testing to help find any COVID-19 cases in your area.
We’re all working in extraordinary times and for People Leaders there’s no playbook for what to do in the face of a pandemic. To help you support our people, here are a few suggestion you can follow:
Help people focus on the work that matters most today
- Come together as a team and review your priorities - work out what needs to be delivered right now, if there are options to delay specific work; and what you can do to support each other.
- Ask your team to review their meetings and really consider what’s a priority - see if there’s a few meetings that can be combined, paused or cancelled.
Be flexible
- Reschedule meetings to hours that work best for your team members.
- See if the team member wants to split up their day or week if it’s getting too much. This includes shifting their start and finishing times or increasing their bandwidth hours.
- Discuss reducing hours for a short-term period.
- As a team, agree some on ‘meeting-free’ time throughout the day or week.
Be understanding
- Understand your meetings might not be as formal – if there is noise or distractions in the background be understanding.
Remember that having a flexible approach doesn’t just mean using flex time. Empower your people to make decisions about their work including where things can be paused or reprioritised in order to help them manage in this complex environment.
Greater Sydney lockdown extended
In response to the evolving Delta outbreak, the NSW Government will extend the current lockdown in Greater Sydney until the end of September, and introduce new rules targeting the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of concern, where the majority of new cases are emerging. Read more here.
Additional rules for the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of concern
There are a number of additional rules for the LGAs of concern that will apply from 12.01am this Monday 23 August that will have impact our people, workplaces and operations. While we won’t have all of the details until the update to the Public Health Order is available we wanted to give some reassurance to our people that we are working through these changes and will provide updates as soon as we can. Read more here.
Permits for travel to regional NSW
It was announced last weekend that a permit system would be introduced for some travel between Greater Sydney and regional NSW. Today the Premier confirmed that this would be in effect from tomorrow, Saturday 21 August. The Service NSW site has now been updated with more details and confirms that if you live in Greater Sydney, you'll need to register on the Service NSW site when travelling more than 50km from Greater Sydney. For the purposes of this travel registration Greater Sydney does not include Shellharbour and the Central Coast. Anyone who lives in Regional NSW who travels into Greater Sydney for work and then back to Regional NSW is not required to register. Read more here.
New Western NSW pop-up vaccination clinics
From tomorrow, Saturday 21 August, Western NSW Local Health District and the Australian Defence Force will provide pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics in 33 communities in 23 days. There will be five mobile teams, involving at least 72 ADF personnel, with each team supported by healthcare workers, including Aboriginal health workers. For any of our people who live in Western NSW please read more here.
From Saturday 21 August, Western NSW Local Health District and the Australian Defence Force will provide pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics in 33 communities in 23 days. There will be five mobile teams, involving at least 72 ADF personnel, with each team supported by healthcare workers, including Aboriginal health workers.
Over a three-week period the mobile teams will spend between one and five days in each location, offering free Covid-19 vaccinations. At the end of that initial three weeks, the teams will go back again to deliver the second dose. Both AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines will be available, depending on each person’s eligibility. These clinics are walk-in only.
Vaccination Clinic locations:
West Dubbo
Pioneer Park
Saturday 21 August - Sunday 29 August - 9am – 4.30pm
Venues and opening times to be confirmed:
- Bourke - 24 August – 26 August
- Warren - 23 August – 24 August
- Parkes - 24 August – 26 August
- Brewarrina - 27 August - 29 August
- Narromine - 25 August – 26 August
- Peak Hill - 27 August
- Trangie - 27 August – 28 August
- Forbes - 28 August – 30 August
- Grawin/Sheepyard - 30 August
- Nyngan - 30 August – 1 September
- Grenfell - 31 August
- Lightning Ridge - 31 August – 1 September
- Trundle - 2 September
- Dunedoo - 2 September – 4 September
- Goodooga - 2 September
- Condobolin - 3 September – 4 September
- Mudgee - 30 August – 3 September
- Canowindra - 1 September
- Collarenebri - 3 September – 4 September
- Rylstone - 4 September – 5 September
- Eugowra - 2 September
- Gulgong - 30 August – 1 September
- Cowra - 3 September – 4 September
- Walgett - 6 September – 8 September
- Gilgandra - 11 September – 12 September
- Cobar - 6 September – 8 September
- Bathurst - 6 September – 10 September
- Coonamble - 9 September – 10 September
- Coonabarabran - 10 September – 12 September
- Kandos - 6 September
- Coolah - 7 September – 9 September
- Orange - 6 September – 10 September
In response to the evolving Delta outbreak, the NSW Government will extend the current lockdown in Greater Sydney until the end of September, and introduce new rules targeting the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of concern, where the majority of new cases are emerging.
Additional powers will also be given to the NSW Police Force to help them manage compliance and assist NSW Health.
Some important changes to restrictions are to be in place from 12.01am Monday, 23 August including mandatory mask at all times outside your home, except when exercising, for Greater Sydney (including regional NSW until 28 August).
You can view the full list of additional rules and Police special powers that were announced today and apply from Monday on the NSW Government Website.
We are continuing to work through what the full impact of these new restrictions will mean and once the Public Health Order becomes available, we will share any updates to this information with you.
It was announced last weekend that a permit system would be introduced for some travel between Greater Sydney and regional NSW. Today the Premier confirmed that this would be in effect from tomorrow, Saturday 21 August.
The Service NSW site has now been updated with more details and confirms that if you live in Greater Sydney, you'll need to register on the Service NSW site when travelling outside of Greater Sydney.
You are able to register online on the Service NSW website now. View our how-to guide on registering to travel to regional NSW for easy to follow instructions on the registration process.
Please note: This is not required for anyone who lives in Regional NSW who travels into Greater Sydney for work and then back to Regional NSW.
Greater Sydney does not include Shellharbour and the Central Coast for the purposes of this travel registration.
Registration is valid for a maximum of 14 days. You'll need to reapply for a travel registration, if:
- you're travelling for more than 14 days, or
- your travel dates change or need to be amended.
You must carry your travel registration and supporting documents with you at all times as you'll need to provide these to NSW Police if requested.
If you're unable to register online, an over the phone option will be available in late August.
Eligibility
You'll need to register to travel if you're:
- travelling more than 50km outside of Greater Sydney for work and you are:
- inspecting a property because you genuinely need a place to live in (no investment properties)
- moving between residences, including travelling to your second home if you:
- are using the home for work (if so, only the worker may travel), or
- need to undertake urgent maintenance, repairs, or attend to animal welfare (if so, only one person may travel to the second home).
What you need
- a MyServiceNSW Account – you can create one when you start your registration
- your name, address, email and contact number
- your travel details (where you will be staying, working or visiting)
- your travel dates
- your dependants' name and contact number, if applicable.
All of regional New South Wales locked down from 5pm today Saturday
To protect the people of NSW from the evolving COVID-19 outbreak, new restrictions have been introduced for all of regional NSW, effective from 5pm today until 12.01am Sunday 22 August 2021. This means that from 5pm everyone in regional New South Wales must stay at home unless they need to leave for one of 4 essential reasons:
- Shopping for food or other essential goods and services
- Medical care or compassionate needs (including to get a COVID-19 vaccine)
- Exercise in groups of no more than 2 within your Local Government Area or up to 10km from your home
- Essential work, or education, where you cannot work or study from home.
Read more here.
Affected Local Government Areas
Special rules remain in place for the affected Local Government Areas in Greater Sydney. Any of our people who are required to come to work from these areas should seek an Authorised Worker letter from their leader. Workers who live or stay in the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA continue to be required to get tested once every three days in order to leave their LGA for work. More info on what you need to do to meet your testing requirements here.
If you can work from home, please continue to do so. Our workplaces remain open for those that need to use them.
Additional fines and restrictions from Monday
At today’s Premier’s Press conference it was announced that there would be increased fines of up to $5,000 for COVID-19 breaches, permits to enter regional NSW are required from next Saturday 21 August and a heightened police presence introduced. As well, it was announced that new restrictions are to be introduced from 12.01am this Monday 16 August. Read more here.
New case locations
There are currently 631 exposure sites listed across NSW. Be sure to check the list of case locations regularly to see if you have visited a site and follow the health advice.
Get tested – do not come to work unwell
NSW Health urges people to continue to get tested with even the mildest of cold-like symptoms. There are more than 440 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW, many of which are open seven days a week. To find your nearest testing clinic, visit the NSW Health website.
The premier has announced increased fines of up to $5,000 for COVID-19 breaches and new restrictions that started from 12.01am Monday 16 August.
Increased fines for Public Health Order breaches include:
- $5,000 on the spot fine for breaching self-isolation rules;
- $5,000 on the spot fine for lying on a permit (already a criminal offence);
- $5,000 on the spot fine for lying to a contact tracer (already a criminal offence);
- $3,000 on the spot fine for breaching the two person outdoor exercise/recreation rule; and
- $3,000 on the spot fine for breaching rules around entry into regional NSW for authorised work, inspecting real estate and travelling to your second home.
In addition, in Greater Sydney and other lockdown areas, the 10 kilometre rule has been reduced from 12.01am Monday, August 16, with shopping, exercise and outdoor recreation to be done in a person’s Local Government Area (LGA) or, if outside their LGA, within 5 kilometres of home. LGAs of concern must still exercise and shop within 5 kilometres from home only and are no longer permitted to leave the home for recreation.
A new permit system to enter regional NSW will also be introduced from 12.01am next Saturday, 21 August. We will provide more information on this once the permit system is live.
For more details on the new fines, restrictions and permits to travel to regional NSW visit the NSW Government website.
