State Government Return to Play advice

Thanks to progress in slowing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), restrictions on sport and recreation have eased under the latest Restricted Activity Directions from the Chief Health Officer.

From 13 May 2020, the Victorian Chief Health Officer has approved that some community sport and recreation activities can resume according to the following rules:

• Groups of up to 10 people only are permitted outdoors (or people from the same household), plus a coach/instructor or the minimum number of support staff reasonably required to run the activity
• Parents or other people are required to keep a reasonable distance or will be included in the group of 10
• No indoor activity – indoor physical recreation facilities must remain closed
• Maintain physical distancing of 1.5 metres wherever reasonably possible
• All activity and training must be non-contact, and no competitions are to take place. Contact sports must be modified so that you can maintain 1.5m distance
• No outside communal gyms, playgrounds or skateparks, these are still closed and must not be used
• No outdoor or indoor swimming pools (unless it is at your own private residence)
• No use of communal facilities, except for toilets
• If the activity is run by an operator of an indoor physical recreation facility (such as a gym, health club or fitness centre), a personal training facility (indoors or outdoors) or an arena or stadium, then the operator must keep a record of attendees including first name, phone number, date and time of attendance
• No shared equipment that touches the head or face or cannot be effectively cleaned i.e. soft materials or clothing
• Hand hygiene, frequent environmental cleaning and disinfection, use of own equipment where possible and minimise sharing of equipment.

High performance and professional sport can now resume full training and competition in line with Chief Health Officer’s Directions, provided organisations have comprehensive risk management plans in place in line with the Professional Sports Guidance Note. This includes:

• Normal full-contact training allowed with strict hygiene and safety procedures in place
• Competition matches allowed outdoors, or in arenas and stadiums
• Use of indoor physical recreation facilities where the facility is only used by a single professional sporting team at any one time and is only used for the training purposes of that team.

High performance and professional sport is provided with this allowance on the basis that professional sports are undertaking these activities at venues that are a place of work and that professional clubs and associations are able to put in place comprehensive risk mitigation plans.

A full list of activities and how the current restrictions apply is now available on the Sport and Recreation Victoria website. These activities are examples only. Please ensure you review the Chief Health Officer’s Directions to understand how they apply to you and how you can be consistent with the rules. The website also has helpful FAQs for organisations and participants.

Sport and Recreation Victoria has published guidance notes for both community sport and active recreation, and high performance and professional sport.

We’re encouraging all Victorians to get out and get active, however it’s important you stick to the latest physical distancing restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Sports and recreation play a critical role in the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of Victorians. However, Victoria is under a State of Emergency and this must be balanced by with the risk of transmitting coronavirus.

We know that getting back on the field or court is important to many Victorians. The easing of restrictions means that while a return to competition isn’t possible just yet, a return to safe outdoor sporting activity is.

Ensuring sport and recreation organisations survive the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and come back better than ever is critical to our economic and social recovery.

Sport and active recreation play an important role in Victoria. They contribute $9.2 billion to the state’s economy, employ more than 71,000 people, bring our communities together, improve our physical and mental wellbeing, and provide entertainment to millions of fans around the globe.

For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), please visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au