The influx of staff has allowed the Northern Grampians Shire Council to tackle renovation projects while also ensuring frequently touched surfaces in the shire's open spaces and streets are regularly sanitised to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Working for Victoria is part of the state government's $1.7 billion economic survival package that was announced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The package helps jobseekers find work and supporters employers quickly find workers with the skills and experience they need.

Funding from the package has allowed Northern Grampians Shire Council to hire seven staff in the shire operations department for a six month period.

These staff are primarily employed to keep council assets well maintained and safe for public use during the Coronavirus Pandemic. The staff are based at the operations depots in Stawell and St Arnaud.

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Northern Grampians Shire Council CEO, Liana Thompson, is thankful for the state government funding and the hardworking contributions of the Working for Victoria staff

. "It is fantastic to see so many projects being attended to in such a short period of time," she said.

"The Working for Victoria staff are an essential workforce that allow us to keep our shire in a hygienic and well maintained manner during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The extra hands have allowed for the re-painting of council buildings and facilties, such as the Stawell Town Hall.

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In Scallan Street, the WFV team have completed a full scale renovation of the toilet block.

Some of the upgrades include improved ventilation and lighting, upgraded internal surfaces to improve hygiene and cleaning, tiling, painting, hand dryers and soap dispensers and new baby change tables.

In addition there has been a complete refurbishment of the special needs toilets. Other improvements include new roofing, the installation of energy efficient LED lighting and upgrades to plumbing fixtures.

Under the WFV initiative, council has hired three facility and building maintenance support officers working, two outdoor cleaners/general labourers and one inventory and asset administration officer at the Stawell depot.

Despite repeated advertising on social and print media, only 0.6 of the outdoor cleaner/general labourer positions in St Arnaud are filled with council keen to fill the remaining allocation of these roles.

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