‘Forgotten’ industry calls for rule relaxations to open

A leading tattoo artist says the industry is ‘forgotten’ amid the coronavirus pandemic and called for relaxations to allow parlours to reopen.

Ink Attack owner Damien Wickham called for the industry to be allowed to reopen as they already operate in a safe manner. Photo: Warren Lynam.

A LEADING Sunshine Coast tattoo artist says the industry is “forgotten” amid the coronavirus pandemic and called for relaxations to allow parlours to reopen.

Ink Attack’s Damien Wickham, who owns Eumundi and Bokarina studios, said many experienced operators already tattoo using the tightest safety standards but have been cut down by the virus.

Mr Wickham called for parlours to open back up with limited people inside and mandatory face masks.

He said the more experienced operators on the Coast all have extensive training in blood-borne pathogens and cross-contamination.

“All shops could go through a state inspection and would be checked on random to ensure the guidelines are being followed for a safe and sterile operation,” Mr Wickham said.

“We as an industry definitely feel forgotten about compared to others.

“I’m under no illusion that the industry should open up tomorrow, however, I believe it should be open when deemed safe and not a minute longer.”

Mr Wickham said the closures had “depressed” many in the industry and even led to people doing illegal backyard home jobs to stay afloat.

Using his social media following of more than 100,000 people as a platform, Mr Wickham drew up a petition pleading for tattooists to be reopened.

It has gained almost 18,000 signatures in a matter of days.

“Covid-19 is affecting the economy in major ways and forcing people to make tough decisions for their families based upon recent events and work displacement,” the petition reads.

“To ease the economical pain in our industry it is in our best discretion to open back up with these limited restrictions.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said this morning both she and Prime Minister Scott Morrison want to get people back to work as soon as possible.

Ms Palaszczuk urged Queenslanders to take advantage of the COVIDSafe app launched yesterday.

“What I want to do is I want to get people back to work,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“But we need to do it in a safe, controlled environment, and signing up to that app is one of the first things we can do as a country to make sure that we can get life back to some form of normality.

“But we’ve got to get it right. We’ve got to get health advice right and we’ve got to get the economic advice right.”

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