Last week the State Government released Queensland’s new Roadmap to Easing COVID-19 restrictions. The Roadmap outlines the staged approach to giving Queenslanders more freedom to travel, participate in more activities and hold more gatherings. The announcement of Stage 4 further eases some of the restrictions currently impacting the sport, recreation and fitness industry.
As at 1 October 2020;
- When holding an event outdoors, organisations can now see numbers increase from 500 to 1000 with a COVID Safe Event Checklist.
- Standing eating and drinking permitted at indoor and outdoor venues with a COVID Safe Plan or Checklist (from 4pm Friday 2 October 2020)
- Community or Boutique Stadiums with an approved Site-Specific Plan can have increased capacity;
- outdoor venues up to 75% of seated venue capacity
- Indoor venues up to 50% of seated venue capacity or one person per 4 square metres (whichever is greater)
Industry COVID Safe Plans, the Return to Play Guide and other supporting information are currently being updated which will be published on the Return to Play website in the coming week. In the interim, for more information on how the easing of restrictions will impact your clubs and associations please review the Restrictions on Businesses, Activities and Undertakings Direction (No. 7) which guides our return to play.
You may have also read about a change in occupant density requirements for outdoor public spaces from 4 square metres to 2 square metres. Please note this announcement does not impact the sport and recreation industry plans. As a reminder, for outdoor sporting activities, physical distancing off the field of play is required. Spectators are required to remain 1.5 metres away from people who are not from their own household or group.
A number of changes to the Industry Plans have occurred over the last few weeks which stem from:
- A review of all COVID Safe Plans which was undertaken by the Queensland Government’s COVID Taskforce to ensure consistency across all Industry Plans and alignment to Health Directions.
- Enquiries from the Industry requiring clarity on specific topics
A few key changes to note;
- Clarification around Events and the interaction between the COVID Safe Industry Plans and the Framework for COVID Safe Events
- What constitutes an event (which includes anything outside of seasonal fixtures or competitions (including finals) such as carnivals, come and try days, gala days and State Championships
- The approval requirements for events dependant on attendee number
- All other facets of the organisation’s operations including regular seasonal fixtures and competitions (including finals), organisations should operate in compliance with the Industry Plan
- What is required when an event is outside of the scope or not solely covered by the Industry COVID Safe Plan
- Updated Contact Tracing Requirements are per the advice provided by Queensland Health, including the requirements for collecting contact tracing information from schools.
As previously mentioned, the Industry Plans are still being updated to reflect the recent announcements however we will advise once the Plans have been published online.
In addition, the Sport & Recreation Department has also developed the Community Gathering and Sporting Events Guidelines to provide further assistance to Industry around delivering COVID Safe Events. Currently, Industry COVID Safe Plans provide guidance to community organisations on how to safely resume play/sporting activities. However, we know that being involved in a community club is much more than participating in the activity itself. The information contained in the Guidelines applies to activities planned and undertaken by sport and recreation organisations, such as:
| Sporting events | Community Gatherings |
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the QTF Team via admin@qldtouch.com.au.
