We’re working closely with our local business community to ensure they can bounce back better as we move towards reopening.

What has changed?

The Victorian government announced yesterday that hospitality, retail and beauty businesses will be allowed to reopen to customers from Wednesday 28 October.

Under the Victorian Government's Third Step in the roadmap to reopening, hospitality businesses will be restricted to ‘predominantly outdoor dining’.

Extended outdoor dining will help hospitality and retail businesses to safely serve more customers and operate within COVID safe guidelines.

Getting businesses back on their feet is our priority. We have put a number of measures in place to assist with the transition to a COVID normal.

What is Yarra doing to help?

Yarra Council has set up a rapid response team to assess applications for extended outdoor dining permits during the recovery period.

Our team are here to help. We know that there is no one size fits all approach. We want to work together with businesses and find solutions for your specific needs.

We’ve created free, flexible and fast-tracked outdoor dining permits so that businesses in Yarra can welcome back customers as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Since going live with our outdoor dining permits in early October we have received an impressive 248 applications from businesses looking to extend their outdoor dining space!

We encourage businesses who haven’t contacted us yet to visit our extended outdoor dining page, and let us know how we can help you to get on track for reopening.

Rediscover Yarra

Our iconic cafes, restaurants and shopping precincts are what makes Yarra special. They are a vital part of the local economy and community.

We're excited to welcome people back to the cafes, restaurants and stores that they know and love in Yarra!

You may start to notice special concrete bollards with coloured material covers appearing in the streets and suburbs near you. The bollards will help keep customers safe while dining outside this summer.

Over the next few months we will be promoting our fabulous local shopping precincts and encouraging the community to share your favourite places in Yarra for dining, shopping, and creating new experiences.  

Look out for #RediscoverYarra on our socials and tag us in your insta posts!

To find out more, email [email protected] or [email protected]