Agriculture has remained open during Victoria’s restrictions. As Victoria’s roadmap for reopening progresses, additional requirements are in place to ensure the safe movement of seasonal horticultural workers from metropolitan Melbourne to regional Victoria to undertake specific work. 

• Industry Guidelines- Seasonal Horticulture
• Seasonal horticulture COVIDSafe requirements factsheet
• About the Seasonal Horticulture Workers COVID Safe Plan
• Seasonal horticulture guidelines – here
• Seasonal horticulture workers COVID Safe plan – here

WorkSafe Victoria's OHS Essentials is a free workplace safety consultation service, delivered by independent occupational health and safety (OHS) experts. The service is a great way to receive free, independent and personalised advice to manage safety at your workplace.

Apply here for your free OHS essential consultation...

• Agriculture Workforce Plan- Business adaptation grants. Grants between $10,000 and $300,000 will support eligible businesses to meet the costs of adapting workplaces to comply with health, safety and social distancing requirements or adapting to required business changes as a result of the pandemic. Register via the Agriculture Victoria website.

• Worker relocation and accommodation- A daily travel-to-work allowance of up to $50 per employee and daily accommodation support of up to $200 per employee is available to businesses unable to fill eligible roles locally. Register via the Agriculture Victoria website.

• Worker induction and retraining. Grants between $1000 and $100,000 are available to support eligible employers inducting workers into new job roles and/or delivering re-training. Register via the Agriculture Victoria website.

• Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job-  Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job (RATTUAJ) is an Australian Government program that assists eligible participants to relocate to take up an offer of employment. Relocation assistance helps participants accept work outside of their area by removing the financial barriers that can prevent people relocating. From 1 December 2020, all job seekers participating in employment service programs will be immediately eligible for the Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job program. View the Factsheet for Job Seekers and the Factsheet for Employers.

Please see the attached for a summary from Agriculture Victoria of all resources available.

Seasonal hay fever and asthma - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
This spring it is more important than ever to speak to your doctor to manage your hay fever and asthma and if your symptoms are new or different to usual – you must get tested for coronavirus.

Hay fever or asthma can produce symptoms similar to coronavirus such as a runny nose, cough or shortness of breath, and while good management can help prevent these, it is critical to get tested for coronavirus if these are different to your usual symptoms. Visit the DHHS website for more information.

The 2020/2021 season is upon us and the stone fruit forecast and overall estimate volumes are looking much better compared to the same time last year.

Good winter rains in most parts of the Western Cape during 2020, together with good winter chill and moderate spring conditions contributed to better overall fruit set of all stone fruit commodities. Although very early in the season we are optimistic about the anticipated volumes of especially apricots and plums that is said to normalise.

Click here to read the full Fresh Plaza article...

• Additional IFAM funding keeps supply chains open to mid-2021: On 6 October, the Australian Government announced it is committing an additional $317.1 million in funding for the International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM). With $95 million to directly address upcoming seasonal demand and $222.1 million to extend IFAM to the middle of 2021, the funding injection will help keep international supply chains open. Visit the IFAM webpage for more information and all IFAM-supported flight details can be found in the IFAM Flight Schedule Outbound and IFAM Flight Schedule Inbound.

• Austrade briefing on disrupted supply chains and changing consumer behavior- The extension of IFAM gives Australian businesses more time to re-engineer their business models and adjust to a different and tougher trading environment created by COVID-19. 

• Register your interest to access IFAM support- Exporters still need to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) and should keep in regular contact with freight forwarders to access IFAM-supported flights and to apply for IFAM grant support. Further information on how IFAM works is available on the IFAM webpage.