COVID-19 is currently front and centre on the news and it is becoming apparent that this is going to impact us all for quite some time. 

POSTPONEMENTS

Due to the current recommendations regarding social distancing, the following Branch Meetings have been changed:

• SA Regional Meeting – 20 March has been POSTPONED
• WA Branch Meeting – 25 March has been CANCELLED
• NT Branch Meeting – 26 March has been POSTPONED
• NSW Branch Meeting – 1 April has been CANCELLED
• CICA/Transport for NSW Industry Operations Group in late April will be reviewed and an update provided closer to the date
• Crane Industry Consultative Committee for Victoria on 3 April has been cancelled

The CICA Board are also meeting to discuss the CICA Conference and I will send you an update about this on Monday.

REGULATORS and ROAD AUTHORITIES

CICA Staff are continuing to progress Road Access, crane safety and traineeship initiatives and are in constant communication with the various regulators to gain an understanding of how restructured working arrangements may affect you.

The NHVR Portal team see no foreseeable Permit delays thus far:

• Auto-permit issuing now occurs when last of consents signs off, bypassing the portal back end (only exception is when third party bridges are involved)
• Seven new part-time staff were hired three weeks ago and have all had their hours increased
• The twelve seconded staff members who fix delays on the spot, are still available as required
• Working from home trials have already begun and are being monitored for efficiency

Victorian Department of Transport (formerly VicRoads):

Catalina Broomhall - Manager Heavy Vehicle Access, advises that all departments of the Department of Transport have been working from home on and off, for over a year and the current scenario is business as usual. This includes Bridge Assessments, Permit Processing and Policy/ Network-Mapping.

Transport for New South Wales (RMS) and Transport Main Roads (Queensland):

Also advise that it is business as usual and have the capacity to deal with staffing shortfalls if required.

CHANGES TO THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS

Because of the way COVID-19 is disrupting business and supply chains, you may be required more than ever to be agile, responsive and to make changes to your business. 

I encourage you to use the CICA Assist Service available to you as a CICA Member to help you understand workplace relations and obligations.

STAY IN TOUCH

Please do not hesitate to contact me or any one of our team if there is an issue with anything impacting your business.

CICA is working on other initiatives to ease the impact that your businesses face if work slowdowns are caused by COVID-19, including adopting the payroll tax deferral that QLD OSR announced today nationally.  

As mentioned earlier, I will provide an update on the conference in due course, but in the meantime, please look after yourselves, family, staff and community and do what you can to keep them safe.

Sincerely,

Brandon Hitch

CICA Chief Executive Officer