Aged Care Home Fined $150,000 for COVID-Era Work Safe Breaches, Family Disappointed

A Victorian court has sentenced St Basil’s Home for the Aged after an outbreak at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which also led to the deaths of 45 residents in 2020.

St Basil’s was convicted and fined $150,000 for being aware of COVID-19 risks but not enforcing sufficient workplace measures. The fine was not over resident deaths, but rather for breaching workplace health and safety among a handful of staff members.

The court heard that in July 2020, there were approximately 92 residents and 106 staff at the workplace.

In January that same year, the World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 pandemic a public health emergency of international concern.

Then, in March that year, the Communicable Diseases Network Australia published specific guidelines for management of the pandemic in residential care facilities.

Guidelines included identifying COVID-19 and its routes of transmission, identifying people at risk, stocking and use of personal protective gear, and ensuring staff are fully trained in outbreak management.

Later in March 2020, the Victorian government declared a state of emergency.

Before the court on March 11, 2026, the prosecution argued St Basil’s had failed to provide a safe working environment for some employees as stipulated by the guidelines.

It was stated that at least five employees were not adequately trained in safety measures, including wearing protective equipment.

The County Court of Victoria heard that St Basil’s not-for-profit organisation, operating under the auspice of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, has made strides to improve its operations.

At the time of the outbreak, the aged care home was still a fully paper-based facility but now has digital systems in place for better efficiency.

The not-for-profit company has also since established various systems for safety and compliance around disease outbreaks.

The defendant also told the court that a new structure had been developed and enhanced since the outbreak in 2020, to ensure that the failures identified in 2020 cannot occur under current governance.

In sentencing considerations, Judge Trevor Wraight found “there were weaknesses in the system, where five staff did not receive training, giving rise to the identified risks.”

In its mitigating factors regarding Basil’s, the court took into account an early guilty plea alongside acknowledgement that the facility had already suffered significant consequences through enormous public attention via the media.

Judge Wraight noted that without the plea of guilty from St Basil’s, the $150,000 fine would have amounted to $250,000.

Outside the court hearing, AAP reported the disappointment of families.

Spiros Vasiliakis, who also lost his mother Maria, said families had placed their trust in the provider to take care of their loved ones.

“They weren’t,” he said.

“In the most crucial time of their need to care, and a showing of duty of care, they completely dropped the ball.”