Prime minister Scott Morrison has announced some significant changes to the government’s three-stage plan for lifting restrictions that might allow major sporting, entertainment and cultural events to resume, with some safety limits in place, sooner than previously thought. Hospitality venues might also be allowed to increase the number of people they can host at one time.
When the government first announced its three-stage plan to rollback restrictions and reboot the country’s economy back in early May, it suggested that the maximum occupancy of public venues be capped at 100 patrons in stage three, which it predicted would come into effect in July.
However, as the number of new cases in Australia has greatly diminished even as restrictions have been eased across the country, Morrison said that the 100-person limit the plan originally suggested could now be increased during stage three. The prime minister expected all states and territories would enter stage three during July.
Under stage three guidelines, hospitality venues would have no upper limit on the number of patrons they could serve at any one time, but each patron must be allocated four square metres of space. This would mean that sufficiently large venues, such as RLS, clubs and pubs, could have more than 100 patrons at a time.
If the states and territories adopt the national guidelines, major event venues that have a maximum capacity of 40,000 or less – such as arenas and stadiums, as well as cultural and entertainment venues like theatres and cinemas – would be allowed to operate at 25 per cent occupancy. This means that up to 10,000 people would be allowed to attend an event at a 40,000-seat venue. At the Sydney Showgrounds, which has a maximum capacity of 24,000, up to 6,000 people would be allowed to attend an event, for example.
However, venues with a greater capacity than 40,000, such as the MCG or Marvel Stadium, would not be allowed to hold events, as they have too many areas, particularly at entrance and egress points, where physical distancing would be impossible to enforce.
There would still be strict rules in place for large-scale events, however, including events must be ticketed and offer seating in order to ensure contact tracing and physical distancing requirements could be met. This means that events such as music festivals, where attendees can usually roam between performance spaces, would not be allowed.
As with the federal cabinet’s initial recommendations for the three-stage “road map” out of restrictions, these latest suggestions are non-binding. It will be up to state premiers and their governments to decide on when and if they adopt these federal guidelines.
The prime minister also addressed the issue of allowing international students back into Australia. He said that states could allow international students to return provided there was a robust quarantine plan in place, but only once interstate borders were reopened: “If you want the borders open for students, you’ll need to open them for Australians.” Morrison said. Currently, NSW and Victoria are the only states with fully open borders. Queensland has pledged to open its borders to interstate travel from July 10.
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