Renew’s update on COVID-19

As we all know, the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation is evolving daily. Renew will follow Federal and State Government advice to ensure the health and safety of our members, staff, volunteers and project partners.

From an operational perspective, Renew is relatively well placed to manage any transition to stronger social distancing or isolation measures.

Working from home is a common occurrence for Renew staff, with some staff already located remotely or interstate. While the Melbourne office has not yet mandated working from home, a number of staff have begun to work from home as needed.

We have in place communication and IT systems to manage this effectively, and members and project partners should experience little disruption, even if we move to a formal work from home policy. Online meetings are already used by Renew staff and branch members, usually to reduce travel times or environmental impact.

From 16th March, all branch meetings will be held online (using meeting platforms such as Zoom) until further notice, with instructions on how to participate in the event posts and via email notifications as plans solidify. If you have any queries as a branch member/attendee, please don’t hesitate to contact our Branch Manager, Doug Rolfe (doug@renew.org.au).

As you may have seen, in consultation with our project partners and supporters and following government advice, we have cancelled or deferred some public events and projects, and continue to assess others. Renew had also planned to undertake a number of events to celebrate our 40th anniversary, and these have been placed on hold until further notice.

Our showcase event for the year, Sustainable House Day, will go ahead as planned on 20th September, but obviously this is a moving target. By way of contingency, we have the ability to defer this event until later in the year should COVID-19 still be a relevant consideration as we approach the event date. We will communicate with you more on this and all our public events and activities in the coming months.

In the meantime, Renew wishes you and your family all the very best as you navigate home, work and social life over the next few months. We will continue to provide you with interesting and informative reading material! Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the office on 03 9639 1500 or info@renew.org.au.