ARV recently spearheaded a collaborative and coordinated response to the impacts of COVID-19, addressing the ongoing challenges facing the Victorian Aquatic & Recreation industry.

Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Victoria, the coronavirus pandemic has had a catastrophic and enduring impact on the Victorian Aquatic & Recreation industry.

As the pandemic unfolded, senior industry personnel came together to form the Victorian Aquatics and Recreation Industry Leaders Group (VARILG) to identify, discuss and respond to the challenges of COVID-19.

A number of key industry issues and strategic priorities were discussed including (but not limited to):

• Fragility of the workforce, exodus of qualified staff & workforce shortages
• Misalignment between LGAs and service providers regarding facility contracts and expectations
• Lack of awareness amongst the Victorian community of the social, health and wellbeing benefits of our industry
• Analysing our industry’s initial response to COVID-19 and future-proofing the industry from similar events
• Importance of environmental sustainability (minimising carbon footprint and reducing operating costs)
• Improved access to Victorian Aquatic & Recreation facilities by under-represented, vulnerable and marginalised communities
• Use of digital content and analytics to drive increased participation and community engagement

While other sectors received specialist packages of support, there was no immediate support provided to Aquatics & Recreation from the State or Federal Government.

In June 2021, however, ARV received funding from the Victorian Government - under the Working for Victoria scheme - to support the employment of seven temporary staff across ARV, Belgravia Leisure, YMCA, Clublinks, Aligned Leisure and Bluefit.

Coordinated by ARV, this group worked together to tackle the issues and challenges emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Join us on Tuesday, 5 April to hear from this group, learn about the work that was undertaken, resources and initiatives that were developed and future considerations for the industry that were identified.