Due to continuing concerns of community transmission in Greater Sydney and throughout NSW, the Premier has announced extensions to stay-at-home orders and additional restrictions in NSW. This update will provide detail on a number of amendments to the Public Health Order and new restrictions and their application to the point to point transport industry.
Greater Sydney lockdown extended
In response to the evolving Delta outbreak, the NSW Government has extended the current lockdown in Greater Sydney (including Blue Mountains and Wollongong) until the end of September and introduced new rules targeting the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of concern, where the majority of new cases are emerging.
Lockdown extended in Regional NSW
The lockdown in regional NSW will be extended to 28 August. Regional NSW now includes the Shellharbour and Central Coast LGAs.
Permits to leave Greater Sydney – COVID-19 travel registration for regional NSW
From today, Saturday 21 August, if you live in Greater Sydney, you may need to register online at Service NSW when travelling outside of Greater Sydney. Regional travel registration is valid for a maximum of 14 days and you will need to reapply if:
you are travelling for more than 14 days, or
your travel dates change or need to be amended
You must carry your regional travel registration and supporting documents with you at all times as you will need to provide these to NSW Police if requested.
If I am a point to point transport driver do I need to register?
If you provide passenger services and travelling more than 50km outside of Greater Sydney for work you will need to register to travel. Please note, Greater Sydney no longer includes Shellharbour and Central Coast for the purposes of this travel registration. If you are from Greater Sydney and travel to Shellharbour or the Central Coast for any of the listed reasons, you will need to register. Permits are not required if you are providing an emergency service. For more information on who needs to register, what you need and how to register go to Register to travel to regional NSW | Service NSW.
Leaving Greater Sydney – testing of workers
In addition to having a permit, a person who lives in Greater Sydney must not go further than 50km outside Greater Sydney for work unless they have been tested for COVID-19 in the last 7 days and carries evidence of the test, for example, an SMS text message or email from the testing organisation. This means, taxi, rideshare, hire vehicle and all point to point transport drivers cannot provide passengers services further than 50km outside of Greater Sydney unless they have had a COVID-19 test in the last 7 days.
Entering Greater Sydney
A person must not enter Greater Sydney without a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse is, for example:
To go to their place of residence in Greater Sydney;
Work is a reasonable excuse where it cannot be done from home;
Attending a small funeral/memorial.
Additional rules for 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 an impact on the point to point transport industry. While we won’t have all of the details until the update to the Public Health Order is available we want to provide some reassurance that we will work through the new orders and provide any relevant updates as soon as possible. The following is a summary of announcements made by the Premier on Friday and are pending the details of the PHO that will be published soon.
Curfews will be introduced from 9pm to 5am (except for authorised workers, emergencies or medical care) to help reduce the movement of young people.
Taxis, rideshare, hire vehicles and all point to point drivers will not be able to provide passenger services at this time.
The only exception is if you are providing a passenger service as an authorised worker, or for an emergency or medical care.
Drivers providing a passenger service as an authorised worker outside their LGA of concern are only permitted to work if rapid antigen testing has been implemented at their work-site or they have had their first vaccination dose by 30 August.
Once we have more details, we will share this information.
However, all drivers and all of the point to point transport industry are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Additional rules from Saturday 28 August
From Saturday, 28 August, if a driver is providing a passenger service as an authorised worker from a LGA of concern they are required to carry a permit from Service NSW declaring that they are an authorised worker.
Until this change comes into place and the Service NSW permit system is operating, please continue to ensure drivers carry evidence of their residential address and that their booked service is providing health care and social assistance passenger services listed in the authorised worker list, at all times.
Once we have more details on this permit issued by Service NSW and how you can obtain one we will share this information.
From Saturday, 28 August, anyone entering an LGA of concern for the purposes of work must carry a worker permit issued by Service NSW.
Again, once more information is available on this permit issued by Service NSW and how drivers can obtain one we will share this information.
Vaccination – a priority
The NSW Premier and Chief Health Officer have made it clear that an increase in vaccinations is a priority for NSW more than ever before.
The Commissioner strongly encourages everyone, but especially members of the point to point transport industry, to get vaccinated. Please reinforce this message with drivers and staff.
You can check your eligibility and book your COVID-19 vaccination on the NSW Government’s COVID-19 website.
There are walk-in vaccination clinics for the AstraZeneca vaccine and pharmacies are available to administer the vaccination as efficiently as possible. You can also go to a NSW Health vaccination clinic or your local GP – there are many options available.
For those who have received their first vaccination, thank you for taking action towards protecting yourself and the community and make sure to book your second dose. Getting vaccinated will help us keep NSW COVID safe and get back on the road to recovery.
Financial assistance
If the COVID-19 restrictions have affected you or your business, find out about the financial and other assistance available through the NSW Government’s COVID-19 Support Package.
Stay up to date
We understand this is a challenging and concerning time for everyone in NSW and that there are a number of new restrictions that impact the point to point transport industry – please remember these restrictions are in place to protect the residents of NSW, including drivers and passengers, and to get the industry back on the road as soon as possible. We will continue to update the Industry as new information regarding restrictions and Public Health Order updates become available.
The Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s website and COVID-19 updates page provide further information on the stay-at-home rules and restrictions and how they apply to the Industry.
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