‘No one tells you anything’: Cafe owner’s outrage at eye-watering Covid fine

A cafe owner has voiced her outrage after revealing the eye-watering fine she received for not having a CovidSafe plan in place.

A Melbourne cafe owner has revealed the eye-watering figure she was ordered to pay for not having a CovidSafe plan at the height of Victoria’s Delta outbreak.

Irene Prosser, who runs Rye Cafe in Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, told 3AW Radio that she was slapped with a $10,094 fine after compliance officers visited her business on October 14.

That day, 2297 locally acquired cases were recorded across Victoria.

Ms Prosser slammed the state government over what she said was a lack of communication with small businesses, saying many were not even aware they needed such a plan.

Irene and her husband Alf Prosser. Ms Prosser claimed she was fined nearly $11,000 for not having a CovidSafe plan in place in October.

She said her business was only operating for takeaway and staff were complying with density restrictions and wearing face masks. She told officers that she was not aware a CovidSafe plan was mandatory at the time.

“I didn’t think any more of it, then I opened my emails a week later and there was a fine,” Ms Prosser told 3AW on Wednesday.

The Victorian government website states every business with on-site operators requires a CovidSafe plan, with officers doing random checks.

Fines range from on-the-spot infringements up to $10,904 or up to $21,809 for “serious offences”.

Ms Prosser said she had spoken to other small businesses since the fine, saying many were not even aware they needed a mandatory CovidSafe plan.

“I want to know why the government could not have sent through an email saying ‘This is mandatory’ or ‘This is what you’ll be fined’,” she said.

“No one tells you anything.

“What if English wasn’t your first language and they came in and you get a fine?”

Earlier this month, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told a parliamentary inquiry that only 8.6 per cent of the 40,843 fines issued had been paid.