Resolve - Stories from a Stop Start Nation

Agriculture isn't the first industry that comes to mind as having been dealt a blow from the COVID-19 crisis. After all, it has been deemed essential from the start; with farmers, workers, and contractors able to continue their work, for the most part, unimpeded.

But as we’ve discovered, no one has escaped from this pandemic. As soon as the international borders shut we noticed the crippling absence of workers from overseas who we relied on to fill the gaps that our local workforce could not.

Both skilled and unskilled workers went home, or couldn’t enter the country, and it revealed a large hole in the industry that farmers and contractors have desperately been trying to fill ever since.

We speak to to sheep shearers, fruit farmers, and industry experts to unpack the issue of staff shortages in the agriculture industry during Covid.

This is the last episode of Resolve for 2021 - we'll be back in mid January 2022 with new stories. Have a suggested topic we should cover? Reach out at [email protected]

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The decision to let the Omicron variant of Covid-19 "rip" has had a devastating impact on Australia's Aged Care system. We speak to an impacted resident, an experienced aged care nurse who has seen the decline of the sector over the last 50 years, and experts that say that all of this was foreseeable - and preventable.

Our guests for this episode include Dr Sarah Russell of Aged Care Matters and Michael Whaites from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association. You can find out more about Aged Care Matters at https://www.agedcarematters.net.au/

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If you live in any of the major cities in Australia that have been heavily impacted by Covid-19, you’re definitely using some form of QR Code checkin to log your entry into public spaces, retail, and hospitality venues.

When you scan a code and check in to one of these sites, what assumptions are you making about what happens if it turns out you’ve been somewhere that becomes an COVID 19 exposure site?

Or, as an employer, how clear are you on what your responsibilities are, if you find out a covid positive person has worked in or visited your business?

In this episode, we look at two Hospitality venues in Victoria that became exposure sites, and whether their experience matched our assumptions.

Our segments in this episode are reported by Greeshma Balachandran and Amanda Reedy.

Our guests in this episode include Sammy from Sparrow's Philly Cheesesteaks and Jaine from The Catfish in Fitzroy, Victoria, Jo from The Paynesville Wine Bar, and Tim Bull MLA, the state member for Gippsland East in Victoria.

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For every generation, there are events that become a marker in time. Experiences so significant that they create two worlds - a “pre” and a “post”. There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic will be one of those historical markers that is looked back on as a shift in human experience, but for us living it right now, the “post-Covid” world is yet to come. What we’re experiencing is a world we know is going to be permanently impacted, but how much, and for how long, are still to be determined.

The pandemic has seen lockdowns and disruptions across Australia, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney, with Melbourne becoming the city in the world that has endured the most days in lockdown. These lockdowns have come in blocks, some longer than others, with periods of reprieve in between, but never long enough for our industries and communities to fully find their footing before the next set of restrictions has been imposed.

In this series, we speak to the small business owners, sole traders, community leaders, and experts across a range of industries that have been impacted by the pandemic, to understand the specific challenges they have faced, celebrate the ways they have persevered, and explore the questions and concerns about the challenges that lie ahead.

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Today, you can’t open LinkedIn without being polled on the topic of working from home. Up there with LOL, WFH has become one of the most recognisable acronyms and sayings over the last two years with COVID-19 fundamentally changing our relationship with the office and with very few of us wanting to return to the pre pandemic status quo.

It’s an experience we thought was temporary, only intended to last the length of our lockdowns. However, as the months went on many have realised that they prefer this approach and want to continue regardless of being able to go back into the office setting. Some would like a hybrid approach, getting to choose when they do either. Others never want to work from home again, relying on the face-to-face and immediate interaction from their peers, or simply missing the social aspect of working in a team.

Whatever your preference, the lockdown experience has made it clear that when it comes to work, there’s no one size fits all model.

Our guests for this episode include Sophie Pank from Deputy, Simon Kuestenmacher from The Demographics Group, and Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp.

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