24 March 2020

Updates for Members and Clubs on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
COVID-19 – Lifesaving Patrols (UPDATED)
Volunteer Training Update: Suspension of all Volunteer Training Activities due to COVID-19

20 March 2020

LSV Circular Updates for Members and Clubs Coronavirus (COVID-19)
LSV Circular Volunteer Training Activities impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
LSV Circular Event Cancellations/Postponements (Sport – IRB, Pool, ILS Worlds)
LSV Circular Club Resources (Patrols) for Corononavirus (COVID-19)
LSV Circular Event Postponement (Development)

19 March 2020

LSV Circular Health Alerts for Members and Clubs Coronavirus (COVID-19)
LSV Health Alert – Coronavirus COVID-19 
Club Resources for COVID-19

18 March 2020

LSV Response to Coronavirus in Aquatic and Leisure Facilities
LSV Circular – Statement on LSV Operations in Response to COVID-19
LSV Circular – Event Cancellation/Postponment due to COVID-19

13 March 2020

LSV Circular – Health Alerts for Members and Clubs Coronavirus (COVID-19) 
LSV Health Alert – Coronavirus COVID-19 
LSV Circular – Youth / Senior Victorian State Championships Cancellation 
LSV Circular – Coronavirus (COVID-19): Information for Volunteer Training 

12 March 2020

SLSA Bulletin

RLSSA Statement

RLSSA Statement

23 March 2020

COVID-19 Impact on the Aquatic and Fitness Industry

13 March 2020

DHHS & LSV Response to Coronavirus in Aquatic and Leisure Facilities

30 March 2020

The State Government has introduced Stage 3 restrictions which come into effect from 12.01am 31 March 2020, including: 
Gatherings are now restricted to no more than 2 people except for members of your immediate household and for work or education.

Under the Stage 3 restrictions, the new directions will mean that what was previously advice about staying home, will become enforceable.

Playgrounds, skate parks and outdoor gyms are to close.

These Stage 3 restrictions will be in place for 4 weeks and reviewed as required.

If people breach these directions, they face on-the-spot fines of $1,652 for individuals and $9,913 for businesses. Larger fines can also be issued through the courts.

Banned activities include:

Note, this advice has been put in place to limit group exposure. Essential-activity has been defined as any work that can continue and maintain social distancing and very limited physical interaction with others.

Based on the DHHS physical distancing and transmission reduction measures advice, LSV advises facilities to apply social distancing and hygiene practices, including:

Also see advice for cleaning and disinfecting to reduce COVID-19 transmission.

What opportunities exist during this period?

Commercial Aquatics Australia have developed an FAQ for pool plant operators to advise on the considerations they should take before shutting down their pool plant. Please see this resource for further information

Can swimming lessons be delivered?

The delivery of swimming lessons is a key activity for many public and private facilities, however, it is deemed to be a non-essential service and there are significant challenges in maintaining appropriate social distancing at the same time as a safe aquatic environment for students, particularly children. As such, LSV strongly recommends the suspension of swimming and water safety teaching activities at this time.

Can existing activities be adjusted to safely continue?

Due to the requirement for non-essential services to cease at this time, there are no reasonable adjustments that would be deemed to be compliant with the current government recommendations. As such, activities are recommended to cease. LSV will provide updates as soon as this information changes.

Upon assessing the activity the following options are available to the aquatic facilities:

Guidance to for Non-Essential Activities

30 March 2020

Moratorium on Commercial Evictions

The Federal and State Governments announced on 30th March 2020 that a moratorium on evictions will be introduced for the next 6 months for residential and commercial tenants who are experiencing financial distress due to the impact of coronavirus. This will apply across all states and territories.

27 March 2020

What can be done to support business continuity?

While COVID-19 started as a health emergency, it is rapidly developing into an economic crisis. Your planning needs to consider a significant downturn in business activity. You may need to consider how you redeploy staff across other areas of your organisation. You may need to discuss leave arrangements. As a last resort, you may need to consider stand downs.

S524 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) allows an employer to stand down an employee without pay in certain circumstances for a period when the employee cannot be usefully employed because of, among other reasons, a stoppage of work for any cause for which the employer cannot reasonably be held responsible. Stand downs should only be considered as a last resort and specific advice should be sought before doing so.

What financial support is available?

What is the impact for the industry?

The impact of the current State of Emergency will be significant, but exact details are unknown. Research by Royal Life Saving Society identifies the scale of the industry:

Is LSV delivering training courses?

Due to the evolving impact of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19 Life Saving Victoria has cancelled all Public Training Courses from 23 March – 1 July 2020. Delivery of training, workshops and professional development and associated travel to attend these have not been deemed as essential services.

The safety of our course participants, trainers and members is of the upmost importance and this decision is in line with advice from the Victorian and Australian Governments, the Australian Resuscitation Council and the World Health Organisation.
Advice from the Australian Resuscitation Council on 19 March 2020 stated that that “routine first aid and resuscitation courses should be postponed until the current COVID-19 pandemic has abated”.

In particular, LSV has identified that it will not be possible to meet Government recommendations and appropriately train and assess the following skills and techniques to a standard that would meet industry standards and community expectations. Those tasks listed below are a few examples. Each example is a mandatory training and assessment activity under the respective training packages:

Pool Lifeguards:

Swim Teacher:

First Aid and CPR:

Is LSV delivering assessment services?

LSV ASSESSMENT SERVICES REMAIN AVAILABLE TO BOOK AND DELIVER THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT PERIOD.

TO ASSIST AND SUPPORT THE INDUSTRY, LSV IS REDUCING ALL POOL SAFETY SERVICE FEES BY 25%.

Given the nature of the assessment services offered by LSV, these activities will continue as planned. LSV will work with and support any facilities that wish to cancel or postpone their assessment. The exception to this will be Mystery Guest Visits (MGV’s), which will cease with immediate effect as a result of many facilities being closed.

Are planned LSV industry events going ahead?
A number of upcoming activities and events which will be impacted by the current state of emergency. While some activities will need to be cancelled, where possible activities will be postponed or conducted via an alternative method. See LSV event advice for a full list of changes.

Aquatic and Recreation Industry – Professional Development Series

In uncertain and challenging times, key aquatic and fitness industry organisations have come together and taken the decision to collaborate and step up the effort to support engagement and professional development during the COVID-19 state of emergency.

The outcome of the collaboration is Life Saving Victoria’s decision to offer free professional development opportunities to anybody associated with the aquatic and fitness industry four times each week between April and July. The professional development will include a range of presentations, seminars and panel events delivered by industry leaders and external experts from across the country.

These sessions will be delivered directly into the homes of industry personnel through a simple Microsoft Teams link. Four streams have been developed to appeal to a broad scope of industry personnel. The project intends to not just offer professional development opportunities, but more importantly the ability for industry personnel to connect and engage during this time of increased isolation.

To join the session, simply visit this web-page and click the LINK at the time and date of the session and follow the prompts. Alternatively so you don’t forget, cut and paste the link into your outlook calendar.