The recent easing of COVID restrictions as announced by the Victorian Government has provided Centres with a more significant opportunity to deliver Little Athletics competitions every week, by increasing the number of patrons – athletes, parents, and spectators, to a cap of 1000, previously 500. This is very important for our larger Centres and for those wanting to conduct Open Days, as it provides greater flexibility.
However, with the recent announcements, there has been an additional process implemented to cater for larger events (above 1,000). The Public Events Framework (PEF), is a permit application process that requires submission and approval by the Department of Health for events to proceed. The submission requires a significant amount of information from the venue management in terms of COVID safe plans, density quotient details, maps, cleaning procedures, car parking requirements, in addition to the details provided by the event organisers on each event. All our State and Region events require a PEF permit to proceed. However, the timeframe for these applications and approvals, as advised by the Government is 4-6 weeks, which is not ideal considering when our events are scheduled, and the registration portals are to open and close.
While we work through these requirements, the opening of registration portals for our Region and State events will be delayed until we have clarity on the permits. In some cases, we might have portals that are only open for a few weeks prior to the event date. Further details will be released once we have information from the Department of Health, along with the relevant councils where the events are being conducted.
This is not ideal; however, we have come to expect the unexpected this year, and we will work through the process. We will send out further details directly to all members concerning the rules, regulations, and event portals as soon as they are approved.
Thanks for your patience.
