Melbourne work permit website CRASHES as millions of employees try to log to apply for an exemption outside of the 8pm Victoria curfew

  • Website for Melbourne residents to get a lockdown exemption permit crashed 
  • Victorian premier Daniel Andrews announced the permit scheme on Tuesday
  • However by Wednesday morning the site had crashed due to heavy traffic 

By Adam Mccleery For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:42 BST, 5 August 2020 | Updated: 03:32 BST, 5 August 2020

The website for workers to apply for exemption permits during Melbourne’s Stage Four lockdown has crashed. 

From Thursday, all essential workers in metropolitan Melbourne will be required to show the two-page permit to prove they are allowed to go to work, including during curfew hours, from 8pm to 5am, and outside of a 5km radius from their homes.  

The Department of Justice website with the relevant paperwork and information crashed on Wednesday morning due to heavy traffic. 

Some workers, like nurses and police officers, can use their official identification, while others have to apply for the permit online, which must be signed by themselves and their employer. 

Melbourne residents requiring a permit during the city's Stage Four lockdown have flooded the government website needed to apply, causing it to crash on Wednesday morning (Victoria Police car pictured during lockdown)

Melbourne residents requiring a permit during the city’s Stage Four lockdown have flooded the government website needed to apply, causing it to crash on Wednesday morning (Victoria Police car pictured during lockdown)

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said the permit can also be accessed through the Victorian government and Business Victoria websites.

The Justice website was up and running again by 10am.  

Businesses caught issuing permits to workers who do not meet the requirements face fines of up to $99,123, while individuals can be fined up to $19,826. 

Mr Andrews described the scheme as ‘old fashioned common sense’ and said the process would not be too ‘onerous’.

‘You carry it with you and then you’re able to demonstrate so there’s not a sense of anxiety or a sense of having to tell your story 17 times,’ he said.

‘If you’re pulled up by police, you can simply provide that piece of paper and then you would be waved on to go about your business.’

From midnight on Wednesday night a range of non-essential businesses will be forced to cease operating.  

Anyone individual caught breaching any of the Stage Four lockdown restrictions faces a $5,000 fine. 

Victoria recorded 439 new COVID-19 cases and 11 more deaths on Tuesday – all of the deaths were connected to aged care. 

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews (pictured on Tuesday) described the scheme as 'old fashioned common sense' and said the process would not be too 'onerous'

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews (pictured on Tuesday) described the scheme as 'old fashioned common sense' and said the process would not be too 'onerous'

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews (pictured on Tuesday) described the scheme as ‘old fashioned common sense’ and said the process would not be too ‘onerous’

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