Thursday 3 June 2021
Australia's largest retail body, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has welcomed the Federal Government's temporary COVID disaster payment as an important protection for workers impacted by ongoing COVID restrictions but says more needs to be done, particularly for small business.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra said the measure will help deliver a safety net to many of Victoria's most vulnerable workers.
"With 33 days of state-imposed lockdowns already a reality in Australia this year, the COVID impact is unfortunately likely to be with us for the rest of 2021. We are pleased to see the return of Federal support in recognition of the ongoing pandemic pain. This scheme rightly targets our most vulnerable working cohort, including casuals who will lose work opportunities whilst stores and other business operations remain closed," Mr Zahra said.
"Unfortunately, the scheme doesn't cater for the businesses themselves - with some struggling small businesses unable to survive further lockdowns without support. We see it as a shared state and federal responsibility to protect jobs and preserve businesses such as CBD and travel retailers, food operators and other small businesses that would otherwise be thriving.
"Whilst the Victorian Government's business support package is also welcome, we still await details on how this will be accessible to the average small retailer affected by the lockdown.
"Reversing the planned payroll tax changes in the most recent Victorian budget would also go a long way toward giving businesses certainty and support."
Mr Zahra said it is also important to protect the mental health of frontline staff, highlighting the imposition of customer identification checks on businesses in regional Victoria as 'a step too far.'
"Retailers respect the importance of the safety measures and those able to remain open are doing all they can to help create a safe environment. However, many of these measures considerably increase customer aggression and abuse. The additional compliance requires employee and businesses to deliver something that they are not trained for. This poses a significant work, health and safety issue and will have a negative psychological impact on Victorian workers," Mr Zahra said.
The ARA is calling on the Victorian Government to step up its consumer awareness campaign around QR code and ID card compliance and to ensure a pragmatic and consistent approach to law enforcement by Victorian authorities to manage customer compliance incidents
