While working on another story, I came across hundreds of people lined up toward Melbourne town hall.
Curious, I checked it out, spoke to people lined up, only find out they were International students lining up for food vouchers.
I made the call to drop the other story I was working on and focus on this.
After publishing and a tweet in which I recorded a video of the line of students, the images and video went viral and consequently, publications such as SBS picked up the story.
The City of Melbourne is distributing retail vouchers to support international students impacted by COVID-19 and boost trade at Queen Victoria Market as part of its ‘Our Shout’ program. The $200,000 retail voucher program aims to support international students affected by job losses and housing insecurity with access to vouchers worth up to $200 each to spend at Queen Victoria Market. Lines extended around the block. The international student economy is worth $9.1 billion a year to the state of Victoria.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: International Students are seen lined up outside the Melbourne Town Hall on June 01, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: International Students are seen lined up outside the Melbourne Town Hall on June 01, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: International Students are seen lined up outside the Melbourne Town Hall on June 01, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: International Students are seen lined up outside the Melbourne Town Hall on June 01, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: International Students are seen lined up standing in the rain outside the Melbourne Town Hall on June 01, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: International Students are seen lined up outside the Melbourne Town Hall on June 01, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: International Students are seen lined up outside the Melbourne Town Hall on June 01, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake is a photojournalist and travel photographer based in Melbourne Australia covering Australia, Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Follow him on instagram
My news beat covering the Corona Virus over the past few months has meant I’ve spent numerous days walking through the eerily quiet streets of Melbourne. In the last month or so, teams of Hi-Visibility vest clad cleaning teams would be dispatched throughout the city and into the suburbs. It was obvious to me that many of them didn’t seem like the sort of people you would generally associate with such work, it was evident that this was a new form of employment and in all likelihood the only form available for most. Curious to this, I felt compelled to learn more about who these people were, there was more to this story than just an increase in the number of cleaners on the street.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 28: Former tour guide Paul Guley holds a morning briefing with COVID-19 Cleansing Team on May 28, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
Under an initiative funded by the Victorian Government titled ‘working for Victoria’ councils were giving funds to employ via their contractors displaced workers to conduct a sanitisation blitz.
On assignment for Getty Images, I spent a few days with the Covid-19 cleansing teams in the City of Port Phillip in Melbourne inner city south-east, to learn about the makeup of these unsung heroes of the Pandemic in Melbourne. Who are they, where do they come from, how are they in these roles and why have they chosen to do it?
Some have come from all over the world, among them are recent Law graduates, Architects, International Students and displaced local workers from the tourism and hospitality sectors. Most of have fallen through the cracks of being eligible for financial assistance during Covid-19, there are also some who have chosen not to get financial assistance and just want to get back to work.
For 5 days a week, they navigate their way through the street of Melbourne walking over 15 kilometres a day cleaning and sanitising railings, playgrounds, bins, lamp posts bicycle racks and every other council amenity we may not even notice. All done enthusiastically and with a sense of duty to the community.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 28: Helmut Prieto from Colombia sanitizes a public shower on the shore of Port Melbourne beach on May 28, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 29: Julien Battut sprays sanitizer on a railing in Port Melbourne on May 29, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. Originally from France Julien formally a member of the French Army who came to Australia to work as a chef found himself unemployed and unable to access Jobseeker due to his immigration status, he took on the role to not only maintain an income but to help the community, he says “I love Australia and Melbourne, if I can help at this time I am to do so” . (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 28: Julien Battut (centre) and Adhar Bol (right) discuss the planned cleaning route their teams will be taking throughout the day on May 28, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 29: Suzanne Kerr poses for a portrait on May 29, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. Suzanne Kerr aged 45 was unable to claim Jobseeker as she fell one month short of eligibility. She a resident in the country town of Mansfield, she commutes back home by bus on the weekend while she works five days a week as part of the Sanitization team while staying overnight at a hostel. She says “I don’t see it as a big deal, I have to do what I need to do to get by, there is no work in the country”. She feels that those unable to find work need to look at all options and maybe get out of there comfort zone “It’s not fantastic but sometimes it’s a good thing to be outside your comfort zone but don’t give up there is hope”. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 28: A cleansing team sanitize playground equipment in the suburb of Port Melbourneon May 28, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 28: Former tour guide Paul Guley cleans play sanitizes play equipment at a childrens playground on May 28, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. Paul Guley was a former tour guide previously worked with a tour operator taking predominantly international tourist, as a result of International travel restrictions he was without work. He finds his new employment “enjoyable as it provides a community service and an opportunity to still stay fit”. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 29: A COVID-19 Cleansing Team cleans bike racks as they walk past a COVID-19 Clinic in Port Melbourne on May 29, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake is a photojournalist and travel photographer based in Melbourne Australia covering Australia, Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Follow him on instagram
Since March 2019 I’ve been covering the Corona Virus crisis here in Melbourne Australia. If I look back the moment it felt like the impact of Covid-19 and its entrance into our lives started around the time of the Australian Grand Prix or more specifically the cancellation of it, any event I was covering up until it’s cancellation.
Melbourne, Australia – March 13 2020: A press conference from Chase Carey, Andrew Westacott, Michael Masi and Paul Little is held following the cancellation of due to Covid 19 the 2020 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix on the Friday 13th of March . Photo by Asanka Brendon Ratnayake www.abrfoto.com
Since then I’ve documented the closure of businesses, empty streets that followed, innovations and people adapting to the new realities. With every new restriction added a new way of life needed to be introduced. Thankfully compared to the rest of the world the human toll and adverse health impact anticipated by Covid 19 never arrived. On the 15th of May, restrictions were eased in Melbourne.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 30: Medical practioners conducting tests for Covid-19 at a drive through testing facility in a undercover carpark as cars are lined up with drivers awaiting to be tested at the Chadstone Shopping Center on April 30, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. COVID-19 testing is set to expand across Australia as the government looks to ease current lockdown restrictions. Asymptomatic or those with mild symptoms will also be tested to ensure there are no cases missed as Australian health authorities hope to keep confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases on the decline. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
As the the impact of the Corona Virus hits Melbourne and our lives change I’ll continue to document and archive the changes and update this Photo Essay, so stayed tuned.
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake is a photojournalist and travel photographer based in Melbourne Australia covering Australia, Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Follow him on instagram
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