On behalf of the PTTGV I would like to acknowledge the current circumstances that our community is currently facing. These unprecedented times present many challenges for businesses, families and individuals. The committee has assembled some information to help support our members during this difficult period.
As you may be aware, both state and federal governments are taking various measures to cushion the blow that households and business are facing. Below are some quick links to the resources currently available for small and medium businesses, sole traders, and households as part of the $189 billion economic support package announced by the Prime Minister:
An overview of the Victorian Government's response:
The Victorian Government has launched the $500 million Business Support Fund
Small or medium business with reduced cash flow?
Cash flow assistance for businesses - Treasury Fact Sheet
Is your business financially distressed?
Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses - Treasury Fact Sheet
Assisting the economic recovery
Delivering support for business investment - Treasury Fact Sheet
Employ an apprentice or trainee?
Cash flow assistance for businesses - Treasury Fact Sheet
Are you a sole trader that has lost business?
Income support for individuals - Treasury Fact Sheet
Household finances hit by reduced work?
Payments to support households - Treasury Fact Sheet
For more information on COVID-19 and the Government’s response, please visit treasury.gov.au/coronavirus or australia.gov.au or call the business.gov.au support line on 13 28 46.
The mental and physical well-being of our membership is also of paramount importance to the guild committee. If the current situation is having a negative impact on your mental health, please consider visiting the Beyond Blue website for information about how to access professional support. The Victorian Government's Health Promotion Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Hub also has a range of resources available to help support the physical and mental health of individuals and workplaces.
Recommendations from the committee:
At the current time our recommendation is to avoid, postpone, or cancel work in areas with high human traffic, or situations where maintaining social distancing is not possible. If you have restoration jobs available, now is the time to work on these instead of making house calls. However, we understand that some members will continue to take whatever work is available to them. If you do need to be out of the house, use extra care and caution when conducting your usual work. Maintain social distancing, use proper hand hygiene, and be extra cautious working in public spaces or in customers' homes.
The reality of COVID-19 is that if you are older, have any underlying health conditions, or have someone at home or in contact with you that fits this picture, you should not be going outside to work. Here's some crystal clear advice from the WHO, USA, UK, China, Italy and Spain: If you think you're overreacting, you're actually not doing enough.
If you think you are being too cautious by cancelling jobs or changing the usual way you interact with customers, navigate their homes, or handle your equipment on the job, you are not. We are all exposed whenever we are required to go outside for essential tasks, so taking extra care during these tasks and avoiding unnecessary tasks is extremely important.
The number of people affected globally by this pandemic is going to be a real challenge. Our hearts go out to those people suffering at this time as these numbers continue to grow. We can do our best to reduce these numbers by taking the proactive steps described above.
We thank all members for your continued support of the PTTGV and we hope that once things get back to normal, there will be a lot of pianos needing our services. In the meantime, everyone's top priority should be doing everything in their power to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 until a vaccine is readily available.
If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact any member of the committee.
Regards,
Benjamin Briggs
President - PTTGV