Update – Covid 19 Advice

by | Mar 17, 2020 | Uncategorized

*****IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR ALL HONORARY JUSTICES FROM RVAHJ******

 After careful consideration and taking broad advice, the RVAHJ has developed the following position in regards to CoronaVirus for both JPs and BJs:

This is based on our guiding principle that all Honorary Justices should minimise any and all potential risks and always consider their own wellbeing.   Our roles as authorised witnesses and bail decision makers are of importance in the community, however this should not be to the detriment of any Honorary Justice in anyway that may have even the slightest health risk to perform their duties.  Our updated advice is as follows:

  1. All members over 80 years of age should withdraw from all Honorary Justice volunteer activities immediately.  This especially applies to volunteers at Document Signing Stations and also to signings from your home, office or any other place.
  2. Members under 80 years of age with underlying health risks, especially but not limited to lung, chest or immune system related issues, no matter how small, should withdraw all Honorary Justice volunteer activities immediately.
  1. Members under 80 years of age, with no apparent underlying health risks should carefully consider their position and weigh up the risks before deciding whether to continue volunteering.  As noted on the DHHS website there are options to mitigate some of the risks (washing hands, using sterilisers etc) but there is no way to completely avoid the contagion, refer to the following link: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/202003/Ten%20ways%20to%20reduce%20your%20risk%20of%20coronavirus.pdf refer to page 2 for more resource details. The RVAHJ position is that we would prefer members did not undertake their volunteering duties at this time.

We understand that as honorable people, we all feel a very strong need to meet our commitment to the community to provide the important witnessing and certifying services and bail/remand and interim accommodation hearings.   All members at this time should however consider their own health and the health of their families and friends first, so that they can continue to support their communities in the future.  Our role is important – very important – but it is not worth risking your health over.

Download a copy of this Updated Advice by clicking on the picture below:

Resource – Advice Update

Please redirect any requests or enquiries to the nearest Police Station for assistance.

We wish all our members the best as we all work through this difficult time together.

Yours sincerely,
Paul Mracek JP FRVAHJ
President, RVAHJ

USEFUL CONTACTS & RESOURCES

 

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