I call upon any and all Victorians who have a lease agreement in place and are being denied access to their own place of business for the following purpose:

Recording/filming Zoom online sessions and seminars for clients and students.

Through the harsh stage 4 restrictions outlined below by the Victorian government it is not only unlawful for us to travel more than 5 kilometers to our place of "Non-Essential" business (upon which we are still paying the lease every month) we also cannot conduct Zoom online sessions for our students, film or record ourselves for future online purchases or sales to stop our businesses from going under.

Since the introduction of stage 4 restrictions, it has meant that our industry is even more impacted with lots of owner operators having to cram their businesses into their living rooms even if they are a sole operator with no one else helping their sessions. There are also cases of husband/wife or de facto couples owning businesses which they cannot run from home and must attend their premises to conduct their work as their own homes are so small that it is impractical, or in some cases impossible to work from home. (The tools are just not there)

The dance studios are without music. The martial arts studios are quiet. We know we are not allowed to have students in the studio however there is no breach of social distancing if one person is filming a Zoom session for their students who may even rely on these sessions for not only fitness, fun and the social aspect, but also in some cases their mental health and wellbeing.

Just to be clear, when I say our industry, I’m not only speaking of the Dance Sport industry or even the whole dance and entertainment industry, I'm also talking about the group of people out there who have places of business they have put their blood sweat and tears into over the years but are now suddenly deemed non-essential. 

There are many people hurting right now unnecessarily. There is no need for them to be hurting, losing their income and having to have to work from home in cramped, impractical, ridiculous environments and spaces. We can all, with proper sustained Covid measures, make it work so that the virus does not spread. We can all act like responsible adults.

We also understand that what we do is not viewed as essential work, however there are many psychologists and health practitioners who would argue that what we do could potentially save a life. Especially those who are already suffering from the mental stresses of life which are too many to mention.

For specialised services such as dance, martial arts, yoga etc, there has already been a devastating affect due to social distancing rules from which I don't know that many can come back. By adding the mandates of isolation and now to not be allowed to simply film on our own, or with our life partner or same household partner, is a complete slap in the face to our whole industry, which is already struggling for survival.  Even if we can all open the doors tomorrow and were allowed to trade with no restrictions, the students confidence has been so shattered that it would take months upon months for them to come back.

So if I may summarise:

1. The owner / operators don't have anyone on a closed set inside their studios

2. The owner / operators do their own filming or with one other person who is their partner or lives in the same household.

3. The owner / operators do all of their own editing therefore no need for editor, web designer, graphics designer etc.

4. We, the owner lock the doors to the studio and cannot have anyone in there as they need the sound and lighting to be controlled.

5. The work cannot be done from home. The filming needs to be done at the studio. 

6. This is essential to our income through the online teaching and will impact us in more ways financially in the near future. 

7. This is the bare minimum mode of operation. If we are unable to sustain this income, then the next few months will definitely see some of our companies moving into bankruptcy and shutting down for good with quite a few people to pay back money to.

Our request however is for this particular case to be viewed and reviewed by the government and for an exemption to be granted to the studio owners and operators, in being able to travel to work past the 5 kilometre radius for the sole purpose of filming our classes online.

I thank you for your kind attention and look forward to your signature in this petition and a favourable outcome in the consideration of this matter.

Together we are stronger.