COVID-19 UPDATE – New electronic contact tracing requirements

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A change to COVID safe practices in the hospitality industry (such as pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafés) in Queensland, as outlined in the Restrictions on Businesses, Activities and Undertakings Direction, came into effect from 1am 23 December 2020:

  • All businesses in the hospitality industry in Queensland including retail food services (cafes, restaurants, fast-food outlets), food courts, pubs, licensed clubs, RSL clubs, function centres, bars, wineries, distilleries, microbreweries, licensed premises in hotels and nightclubs must comply with the new electronic contact information collection requirements.
  • These businesses must move away from paper-based record keeping methods and will need to have an electronic form or other digital method to capture contact information (e.g. QR code, member card scanning, online fillable forms, online booking systems or a digital spreadsheet).

With the festive season upon us it is also a good time to remind businesses within all of our communities to ensure they maintain COVID safe practices including:

  • Businesses are required to record contact details of patrons and store them securely for not less than 30 days and not more than 56 days. This is vital for contact tracing purposes.
  • Have practices in place that encourage physical distancing (e.g. signage, floor markers and reminders from staff).
  • Maintain high hygiene standards including hand washing and staying home if unwell.

Queensland Health has strongly encouraged venues to have a designated COVID Marshall, or a member of staff whose role is to focus on ensuring people are signing-in correctly and patrons are generally following the rules.