Victoria’s staged return to office work will resume next week as more restrictions are eased and Victorians continue to enjoy a COVIDSafe Summer.  

Premier Daniel Andrews announced today that with no current evidence of community transmission in Victoria, and a new permit system providing confidence that interstate outbreaks can be managed, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has recommended that it is safe for Victorians to continue heading back to on-site office work.

From Monday, January 18, the Victorian Public Service will be able to return to on-site work at 25 percent capacity at each site and all other office workplaces will be able to increase to 50 percent capacity.

Record keeping requirements for workplaces will remain unchanged, which means that an employer must keep a record of all workers and all visitors who attend the premises for longer than 15 minutes.

In addition to this, from 11:59pm on Sunday, January 17, rules around mandatory mask wearing will be able to return to the settings that were in place at Christmas time.

This means that masks will now only be mandatory on all domestic flights, at airports, in hospitals, on public transport, in commercial passenger vehicles, at supermarkets and other large indoor retail locations, including shopping centres.

It’s also recommended that Victorians wear a mask in other situations if physical distancing is not possible.

Mr Andrews said while many Victorians would be happy to see this easing of restrictions it was vital that workplaces maintain and enforce their COVIDSafe plans to protect staff and the broader community.

"We know this will be disappointing for many but the current health advice has also meant Brisbane City and surrounding LGAs, and Greater Sydney, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains will remain red zones until further notice – we simply cannot take the risk in lifting the classification at this point, particularly with the transmission of the UK strain in Queensland’s hotel quarantine system," Mr Andrews said.

"Victorians have made an incredible effort in getting tested and we continue to urge everyone – if you have any symptoms at all, please get tested and then stay home until you get your result."