Tasmanian venue owners facing potential fines if they fail to adhere to new Check in TAS rules

Tasmanian venue owners now only have a few days left to register to use the Check in TAS app, as part of a crackdown on the key contact tracing app. DETAILS >>>

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THE owners of Tasmanian premises face the potential threat of fines if they fail to comply with a requirement to display a check-in QR code.

Just three days now remain for an expanded range of businesses to register for a check-in code, with the July 31 deadline fast approaching.

A total of 30,361 Tasmanian venues have now signed up to be part of the key contact tracing app, that authorities say would be valuable in the event the state had a Covid-19 outbreak.

A Salamanca Market staff member prompts patrons to use the Check in TAS app. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

On average, there have been 230 new registrations processed each day in the past week.

A state government spokesman said it was not possible to estimate a figure of how many more businesses were yet to register for the app.

“Business Tasmania is proactively making contact with businesses by post and electronically across a number of their channels to ensure they are aware of Check in Tas, if they need to use it and the support Business Tasmania can provide,’’ the spokesman said.

The government said uptake and compliance around the use of the app was being monitored, and that the community could make reports via Tasmania Police.

“Businesses who appear to be mandated but have not registered, or businesses that have not had any check-ins, will be contacted to ensure that they are aware of their requirements and supported to implement Check in TAS,’’ the spokesman said.

“There are potential fines for noncompliance.”

Premier Peter Gutwein uses the Check in TAS app. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Over the past week, more than 3.1 million check-ins have been recorded at Tasmanian premises.

A tightening of the rules means the previous 15-minute threshold for a check in has been removed, with everyone aged 16 years or older now required to check in, regardless of the length of their visit.

Businesses are also now required to have their staff check in on each shift.

Further information for businesses is available at coronavirus.tas.gov.au and further support is available by phoning the Business Tasmania hotline on 1800 440 026.

From July 31, the premises required to display a check-in QR code will expand to include:

- Food courts

- Mobile food vans and stalls (except where the van or stall is located within a retail location or a market);

- Retail premises including shops, pharmacies, supermarkets and other similar premises;

- Shopping centres;

- Markets, fairs and other similar premises;

- Libraries;

- Schools that provide kindergarten, primary education or secondary education, with the exception of home education;

- Child care centres, (other than a child care service that is provided at a residential premises for children that live there);

- Accommodation locations, including hotels, motels, serviced apartments, hostels, boarding houses, caravan parks, campsites and camping areas, bed and breakfasts and short stay accommodation (except where the premises is the persons’ residential premises);

- Certain medical facilities;

- Residential aged care facilities;

- Certain mobile service providers who provide services at residential premises such as beauty therapist, hairdressers and personal trainers

- Veterinary and animal care locations.

EARLIER:

A RETIREE who is a keen user of Tasmania’s contact tracing app says lax attitudes towards checking in would leave the state seriously exposed in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak.

As a member of one of the most vulnerable cohorts of people to coronavirus, 75-year-old Preston Clothier believed it was critical the app was routinely used by Tasmanians.

Mr Clothier argued the outbreaks of Covid-19 in NSW, Victoria and South Australia linked to the highly-infectious Delta strain of the virus should make Tasmanians take notice.

“I think it’s very important we just keep ourselves pretty sharp on this going forward,’’ he

said.

75yo man big fan of Check in Tas

“The whole Delta thing is just completely devastating. It has changed the game completely.”

It comes after a Mercury field survey found just two in five people were using the app voluntarily at venue entrances unmanned by staff but were clearly displaying a QR code.

Mr Clothier, who will receive his second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine next month, said he was not surprised to see the results of the survey based on his own observations.

“Tassie people I think are pretty laid back, and there’s a heap of complacency that’s crept in,’’ he said.

Mr Clothier said he checks in wherever he goes, but believed the efficiency of the app in the event of an outbreak would be compromised based on current usage levels.

“We would be hit and miss really. We would be a 50 per cent shot if we’re lucky,’’ he said.

“They’ve really got to focus on banging people’s heads together a bit and say ‘don’t go sleepwalking into this’. It’s pretty serious stuff.”

A range of Tasmanian premises now including supermarkets and other retail outlets are required to register for a check-in QR code by July 31.

More than 28,000 premises are currently registered, with details of those who have checked in stored for 28 days to be used if needed for contact tracing.

But not everyone is so keen to routinely use the app, including leading Tasmanian economist Saul Eslake who is a reluctant user of the app and has serious reservations about it.

“There is a fairly well-established risk that these forms of mass surveillance can be accessed by other people,’’ he said.

Mr Eslake said the state government had failed to legislate to ensure the data gathered from the app would not be used for other purposes, such as in police investigations.

“I accept that this helps contact tracers, but it nonetheless makes me uneasy,’’ he said.

“And I would put money on the government putting reasons to keep this going long after we have been vaccinated.

“I’m amazed at how cavalier Australians are about this.”

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Originally published as Tasmanian venue owners facing potential fines if they fail to adhere to new Check in TAS rules