Stay safe for everyone’s sake during Covid-19
Below is a summary of information relevant to religious communities available from www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19
The Acting Minister for Multiculturalism, the Hon. Dr Geoff Lee MP, will convene a meeting of the Religious Communities Forum on Friday 3 July, 12.00-12.30pm to discuss the latest changes.
If you have any questions on the latest changes, please send these through in advance by COB today and we will try to address these on Friday.
Religious gatherings and places of worship
The number of people in a public place of worship must not exceed one person per 4 square metres. The maximum applies to the whole of the venue, even where men and women worship in separate areas.
Services can be streamed or recorded to enable people to engage in worship.
People attending a religious service will be required to provide their name and contact details when they enter so that they can be used for contact tracing.
The NSW Government expects that places of worship will comply with COVID-19 Safety Plan requirements to keep staff, volunteers and visitors safe.
Places of Worship Safety Plan
Develop a COVID-19 Safety Plan for your church, meeting house, mosque, synagogue, temple or another place of worship to help your community connect safely.
Good to follow the current advice from NSW Health regarding hygiene and cleaning:
- Adopt good hand hygiene practices.
- Ensure bathrooms are well stocked with hand soap and paper towels or hand dryers.
- Consider modifying religious rites or rituals to avoid direct contact where practical. Where this is not practical, ensure hands are washed before and after each interaction with soap and water or hand sanitiser.
- Avoid sharing books, drinking cups or other shared objects used during the service such as collection plates. Also consider putting barriers around frequently touched objects of worship, such as shrines, relics or fonts, to prevent people frequently touching these.
- Clean frequently used indoor hard surface areas (including children’s play areas) at least daily with detergent or disinfectant. Clean frequently touched areas and surfaces several times per day.
- Disinfectant solutions need to be maintained at an appropriate strength and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Staff are to wear gloves when cleaning and wash hands thoroughly before and after with soap and water.
Detailed health advice for places of worship including a checklist and COVID-19 safety plan can be found here.
Funerals, memorial services and wakes
The maximum number of people who may attend a funeral is the maximum number of people allowed on the premises, which is one person per 4 square metres.
Funerals or memorial services held at a place of public worship, funeral home, crematorium or place of residence must not allow more than 50 people, unless the size of the premises is sufficient to ensure there is at least 4 square metres of space for each person on the premises.
The one person per 4 square metres rule also applies to gatherings held immediately after the service.
People attending the service will be required to supply their name and contact details so that they can be used for contact tracing.
Read common questions about attending funerals, memorial services and wakes.
Weddings
The maximum number of people who may attend a wedding is the maximum number of people allowed on the premises, which is one person per 4 square metres.
Wedding services are no longer subject to separate limits, with the exception of a wedding at a place of residence, which can have the greater of 20 people or one person per 4 square metres of space.
People attending will be required to provide their name and contact details so that they can be used for contact tracing.
Community centres, halls and education programs
Comply with COVID-19 Safety Plan requirements to keep staff, volunteers and visitors safe.
Ensure capacity does not exceed one visitor per 4 square metres of space (excluding staff).
Ensure indoor group activities have no more than 20 participants, plus the instructor or facilitator and any assistants, per space that complies with one person per 4 square metres. There may be multiple classes in a room if there is sufficient space to accommodate this and the classes remain separate. Participants should maintain 1.5 metres physical distance where practical.
Education programs should be conducted in accordance with the NSW Government guidelines on Schools and Childcare. Students do not need to follow strict adult physical distancing guidelines but should follow good hygiene practices. Staff should continue to maintain 1.5m physical distancing from students where practical.
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