The decision to let the Omicron variant of Covid-19 "rip" has had a devastating impact on Australia's Aged Care system. We speak to an impacted resident, an experienced aged care nurse who has seen the decline of the sector over the last 50 years, and experts that say that all of this was foreseeable - and preventable.

Our guests for this episode include Dr Sarah Russell of Aged Care Matters and Michael Whaites from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association. You can find out more about Aged Care Matters at https://www.agedcarematters.net.au/

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Agriculture isn't the first industry that comes to mind as having been dealt a blow from the COVID-19 crisis. After all, it has been deemed essential from the start; with farmers, workers, and contractors able to continue their work, for the most part, unimpeded.

But as we’ve discovered, no one has escaped from this pandemic. As soon as the international borders shut we noticed the crippling absence of workers from overseas who we relied on to fill the gaps that our local workforce could not.

Both skilled and unskilled workers went home, or couldn’t enter the country, and it revealed a large hole in the industry that farmers and contractors have desperately been trying to fill ever since.

We speak to to sheep shearers, fruit farmers, and industry experts to unpack the issue of staff shortages in the agriculture industry during Covid.

This is the last episode of Resolve for 2021 - we'll be back in mid January 2022 with new stories. Have a suggested topic we should cover? Reach out at resolve@swivolmedia.com

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Today, you can’t open LinkedIn without being polled on the topic of working from home. Up there with LOL, WFH has become one of the most recognisable acronyms and sayings over the last two years with COVID-19 fundamentally changing our relationship with the office and with very few of us wanting to return to the pre pandemic status quo.

It’s an experience we thought was temporary, only intended to last the length of our lockdowns. However, as the months went on many have realised that they prefer this approach and want to continue regardless of being able to go back into the office setting. Some would like a hybrid approach, getting to choose when they do either. Others never want to work from home again, relying on the face-to-face and immediate interaction from their peers, or simply missing the social aspect of working in a team.

Whatever your preference, the lockdown experience has made it clear that when it comes to work, there’s no one size fits all model.

Our guests for this episode include Sophie Pank from Deputy, Simon Kuestenmacher from The Demographics Group, and Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp.

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Whether you survived on Uber Eats during the lockdowns or turned to the surplus of frozen goods you panic bought at the start of the pandemic, one thing we all looked forward to was being able to go out for a meal with our friends and family

As we re-open, the message we are receiving is that if you’re fully vaxxed, it’s time to get on the beers and support our hospitality venues, with some governments providing vouchers and cash back schemes to encourage people to come back to our city centres.

While everyone in the hospitality industry is desperate to open their doors and fill their venues with happy diners again, many are facing a new challenge - they can’t find enough staff to serve them.

For this episode, we spoke to Melbourne hospitality owners and operators about the process of reopening and the workforce shortages that are putting their livelihood at risk.

Our guests for this episode include Michael Bacash from Bacash Restaurant, Jessica from the Peppercorn Hospitality Group (Stalactites, Hella Good), and Wes Lambert, CEO of the Restaurant and Catering Australia.

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If you live in any of the major cities in Australia that have been heavily impacted by Covid-19, you’re definitely using some form of QR Code checkin to log your entry into public spaces, retail, and hospitality venues.

When you scan a code and check in to one of these sites, what assumptions are you making about what happens if it turns out you’ve been somewhere that becomes an COVID 19 exposure site?

Or, as an employer, how clear are you on what your responsibilities are, if you find out a covid positive person has worked in or visited your business?

In this episode, we look at two Hospitality venues in Victoria that became exposure sites, and whether their experience matched our assumptions.

Our segments in this episode are reported by Greeshma Balachandran and Amanda Reedy.

Our guests in this episode include Sammy from Sparrow's Philly Cheesesteaks and Jaine from The Catfish in Fitzroy, Victoria, Jo from The Paynesville Wine Bar, and Tim Bull MLA, the state member for Gippsland East in Victoria.

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In mid-October 2021, the same scenes were playing out at schools across NSW and Victoria. Our youngest and eldest students began returning after many weeks of remote learning in the latest lockdowns triggered by the Delta variant of Covid-19.

Across social media accounts from schools and teachers, you could see scenes of celebration as students were welcomed back. School entrances decorated with balloons, teachers, and staff in crazy costumes, handmade welcome back signs, care packs - each setting slightly different but all designed with the goal of making students feel welcome and reassured as they come back to the classroom.

Behind the smiles and the balloons, teachers, leaders, and school staff have put in countless hours managing remote learning arrangements and return to school plans dictated by road maps with ever-changing destinations.

For this episode, we spoke to a panel of educators from Victoria and NSW about their experiences and ideas about what lies ahead.

Our guests include Bec West, Deputy Principal at Bonnyrigg Public School in NSW, Steven Kolber from Brunswick Secondary College in VIC, Lauren Sayer, Executive Director, Research and Innovation at Melbourne Girls Grammar, and Amber Flohm, Senior Vice President of the NSW Teachers Federation

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When COVID-19 took hold in 2020, we collectively turned to the arts to save our sanity. We found solace in our favourite music, binged our way through Netflix, and sought out our favourite comedians online when we needed a laugh. But despite providing sanctuary from the pandemic, the arts and entertainment industry has been hit hard, leaving thousands of creative workers, artists, and performers jobless and desperate to get the show back on the road.

Our stories today come from Melbourne, Victoria. Once known as the epicentre of the Australian arts scene, the city is now famous for spending more days in lockdown than any other place in the world, surpassing Buenos Aires record of 245 days in October 2021.

In this episode, we talk to Melbourne-based performers about their experience surviving the pandemic, the future of live performance and getting back on stage in a post lockdown world.

Our guests include comedian Kirsty Webeck, cabaret favourite Queenie van de Zandt, and Adam Portelli from MEAA Victoria.

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