News

The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic forced the postponement of Car Wash Show Australia which was set to be held on the Gold Coast in September this year.

At its meeting on 18 August, the ACWA Board resolved to reschedule the Show to September 2022. We all have our fingers crossed that the Coronavirus situation will have been determined by then but, with the twists and turns the Pandemic has delivered to date, uncertainty around national and international travel restrictions remains.

The Association is seeking to re-establish the event at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, subject to receiving a competitive quote. We will keep everyone abreast of developments.

Stand-by to Rinse! Off the COVID Blues

As impossible as it sounds, the forced rescheduling of Car Wash Show Australia until 2022 means it will be five-years between Shows! And, to fill the gap, ACWA will introduce a new series of Rinse! Events and these will be programmed as soon as domestic travel conditions return to normal.

Rinse! is a car wash industry event like no other. It doesn’t pretend to have the bells, whistles and razzmatazz of Car Wash Show Australia, it simply presents a no-frills opportunity to connect car wash operators with dozens of industry suppliers, in just a few hours! The inaugural Rinse!, run in Brisbane during September last year was a huge success, and in the year ahead we are planning on taking Rinse! Australia-wide.

Come on COVID, give us a break will ya we’ve got Rinse! events to organise.

It was less than three weeks ago that ACWA conducted its Zoom Workshop on the newly announced Federal Government JobKeeper 2.0. Thank you to the almost 30 members who took part.

As we have found out time and time again during this Pandemic, things can change rapidly.

As a result of the severe COVID-19 breakout in Victoria, and the forced business closures in metropolitan Melbourne, Jobkeeper 2.0 has been tweaked. The good news, however, is that the new conditions may open the door for additional car wash operators to access the scheme.

Let’s take a quick look at JobKeeper to date:

• The Government confirmed that JobKeeper 1.0 would continue to operate on its original terms until it announced expiry date of 27 September 2020.
• On 21 July 2020, the Federal Government announced an extension to the original JobKeeper scheme and introduced JobKeeper 2.0. While it is helpful that the scheme was to be extended, the amount of support that is to be paid to eligible business was to be significantly reduced, and the qualification requirements tightened.
• In August, changes to JobKeeper 2.0 were announced, with rules that take effect from 28 September 2020. In summary:
  • There are two further extensions of JobKeeper proposed. They will run for the period of 28 September 2020 until 3 January 2021, and the second 4 January 2021 until 28 March 2021.
  • The qualification requirements are more rigorous than JobKeeper 1.0 but less rigorous than those initially announced in JobKeeper 2.0.
  • Under the revised qualification requirements, employers wishing to qualify for support during the first extension period until 3 January 2021, will have to show a drop in income of at least 30% in the September quarter 2020 against a similar period, most likely the same period in 2019.

Confused? There’s no need to be because our great friend Graham Lilleyman from ESSA has prepared a fantastic paper explaining all the details.

Simply log in to the Members Only Section of the ACWA website and use the navigation to the COVID-19 Resources area.

Our WHS partners at Eastman Lynch have provided generic COVID-19 Safe Plans for car wash operators.

Thanks to Danny and the Eastman Lynch Team.

While the document was prepared at enormous speed to help out Melbourne based members needing to maintain their sites during Melbourne during Stage 4 restrictions, we take this opportunity to remind operators around Australia that COVID-19 has not gone away.

Please keep enforcing safe distancing and hygiene processes at your sites.

We encourage everyone to take a look at the COVID Safe Plan and see if there are elements of the plan you could apply at your site, making it just a little safer. Simply log in to the Members Only Section of the ACWA website and use the navigation to get to the COVID-19 Resources area.

Check out ACWA’s Facebook Page

ACWA President Neil Fox recently provided ICA members his perspectives on the Australian car wash market. Check out the video on Facebook.  Go to the Australian Car Wash Association – Members Group.

On 5 August 2020 thee Victorian Government released a new and upgraded list of ‘Permitted Work Premises’ that includes a number of industry sectors that were not previously allowed to open.

This differs from the previous Stage 4 Industry List, issued earlier in the same week and some sectors that were previously listed as closed or restricted, are now included as ‘Permitted Work Premises’.

This List forms part of the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s directive on Stage 4 Business Restrictions for metropolitan Melbourne. Mitchell Shire remains at Stage 3 restrictions with the rest of Victoria.

Permitted Work Premises for the purposes of the RestrictedActivityDirections (Restricted Areas) (No 6) 1.0-05082020

Victorian Car Wash Operators are reminded that if they or any of their employees are attending a car wash site in the Melbourne metropolitan area,  they must carry a Worker Permit and photo ID or risk significant penalty.

Worker Permits can be found here https://www.vic.gov.au/worker-permit-scheme

Some good news at this time is always welcome.

We are sure many members will be well aware of grants available via the Victorian State Government’s Business Support Fund.  However, for those not familiar with the Scheme, we draw your attention to the expansion of the Program under Stage 4 Restrictions.  Under conditions of the scheme, businesses in regional Victoria can now apply for a $5,000 grant while those in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire can apply for up to $10,000.

ACWA strongly encourages all members suffering significant losses or the need to close as a result of the Victorian COVID-19 Stage 4 Restrictions, check out details of the Business Support Fund – Expansion Program.  Full details are available here https://www.business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/grants-and-assistance/business-support-package/business-support-fund

Importantly, operators who have already received a Business Support Grant or have applied for one, will not need to re-apply.  Qualifying applicants will automatically receive this additional allocation.

Applications for the program have been extended until 14 September 2020.

After many attempts to gain clarification on Member’s enquiries over the past few days and an excruciatingly long wait on the Corona Virus Hotline , the following information has been verified by the DHHS.  Members are protected if abiding by the following guidelines as we have a Transaction ID for the telephone conversation should it be needed.

Updated Changes to Permitted Work Premises

The Victorian Government has released a new and upgraded list of ‘Permitted Work Premises’ that includes several industry sectors that were not previously allowed to open. This differs from the previous Stage 4 Industry List, issued earlier this week but does not materially change normal business operations for car washes.

Some sectors previously listed as closed or restricted, are now included as ‘Permitted Work Premises’. The new list is available on the DHHS website https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/business-industry-stage-4-restrictions-covid-19?_cldee=c2NvdHRAcHJvd2FzaC5jb20uYXU%3d&recipientid=contact-7a039c0287e8e81180e6000d3ae0def9-4cf1478af6c1433f823ea2389b721714&esid=9c60ba1c-9fd7-ea11-a813-000d3a6aacaf

Changes Relevant to Ongoing Maintenance and Security at Car Wash Sites

Under yesterday’s changes, there were concessions announced concerning essential maintenance for closed businesses. It has been confirmed by the DHHS that car wash operators can attend their sites to decommission plant and equipment, emergencies, maintenance and ongoing security of your car wash site. The DHHS has advised the following instruction adequately covers those needing to attend their site for these purposes:

Ancillary and support businesses are able to open on-site to ensure the necessary production, supply, manufacture, repair, maintenance, cleaning, security, wholesale, distribution, transportation or sale of equipment, goods or services required for the operations of a Permitted Work Premises, or for Closed Work Premises where there are safety or environmental obligations. The business cannot operate on-site for any other purpose.

If you, or any staff member is attending a site for the above purposes, they must have a Permitted Worker Permit Document. A copy of the document is attached.

The DHHS has advised that in the Permitted industry/activity box the following wording should be added “Other Services Sector- Essential maintenance for upkeep, security and safety”.

The DHHS has further advised that the following conditions are relevant and apply to ALL businesses regardless of status:

• Permitted Worker Permit (as above)
• COVID Safe Plan Directions can be found here – https://www.business.vic.gov.au/disputes-disasters-and-succession-planning/covid-safe-business/covid-safe-plan.

Your Free ACWA COVID Safe Plan 

Our WHS partners at Eastman Lynch have provided a generic COVID-19 Safe Plan for Melbourne car wash operators to use if attending their sites during Stage 4 Restrictions.

The document has been prepared at “warp speed” to have it ready in time.  There may need to be alterations made to the plan over the coming days but it will at least check a box and hopefully take some pressure off you at this excruciatingly difficult time.

ACWA has distributed a generic COVID-19 Safe Plan for closed car washes. We’ve tried to anticipate all situations and there may be some modification required for specific circumstances.

Thanks to Danny and the Eastman Lynch Team.

The template is available by logging into the Members Only section of the website.

In a highly anticipated statement, the Federal Government yesterday announced changes to the JobKeeper scheme which will extend past September and through to March 2021, but at a stepped-down rate. In summary, the key details are listed in the table below:

	Until 27 September	From 28 September to 3 January 2021	From 4 January to 28 March
JobKeeper (Over 20 Hours a Week)	$1,500/fortnight	$1,200/fortnight	$1,000/fortnight
JobKeeper (Less Than 20 Hours a Week)	$1,500/fortnight	$750/fortnight	$650/fortnight
JobSeeker Coronavirus Supplement	$550/fortnight	$250/fortnight until end of 2020	Under Review
JobSeeker Totals	$1,115	$1,115 ($815 + $300 of own income)	Under Review

Further information for members can be found in the Members Only Area of the ACWA Website https://acwa.net.au/members/  in the form of an excellent and easy to read summary of the changes to the scheme.  Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand have produced this document, and we recommend it as a great place to start to understand JobKeeper 2.0 better.

ACWA is considering running another interactive ZOOM information session for members on JobKeeper 2.0.  The session would be headed by an expert panel to explain the intricacies of the scheme and answer your questions.  We would love to receive member feedback on the value of such a session.

Police officers attended a Melbourne metropolitan site on Saturday and asked customers to leave or risk fines.

Last Saturday two police officers attended a popular Melbourne car wash site. They asked customers to leave the car wash site or risk receiving a $1652 infringement notice under Victoria’s Stay at home regulations. This is the third time ACWA is aware of over the COVID-19 journey, customers at car wash sites have been targeted for police attention.

On behalf of the operator involved and the car wash industry at large, ACWA made contact with the local police station and raised the issue with local members and State Government Ministers. ACWA remains of the view that Victorian car washes can continue to operate during the State’s Stage 3 Restrictions.

We believe the unwarranted attention comes about via overzealous actions of individual police officers. We are seeking assistance from the State Government in ensuring the situation does not occur again.

We ask members to continue to keep ACWA informed if their site is subjected to such visits by police.