From midnight on Sunday, regional Victorians are now required to wear face masks — including farmers.
Farmers whose family home is also their workplace are only required to wear a mask if they have staff coming and going from the property.Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said mask-wearing rules for farmers were based on “common sense”.
“If you've got staff or you have got people beyond your household coming onto your property, then logic just says put your mask on because that person is not part of your household,” Mr Andrews said.
“Even though the farm is your home, that's in a workplace and you've got that movement back and forth.”
Farmers who work alone or solely with their families are not required to wear a mask.
“If you're out on your own, and you're not coming into contact with anybody else — if it's just you and livestock, or you're on a tractor and you're doing whatever it is, then you wouldn't need to wear it,” Mr Andrews said.
“If it was just you and your family out working, well, then the same rule would apply.”
If caught not wearing a mask, a $200 fine will apply.
Mr Andrews said he was confident rural Victorians would not receive many fines.“In my universal experiences, common sense runs deepest in regional Victoria, and particularly in farming environments, and I think people will work it out.”