ACT entertainment venues open doors for next stage of economy reboot

The casino, along with strip clubs and brothels, was given the green light to commence trading from 9am on August 8, as part of the next stage of reopening the ACT economy.

Casino Canberra chief executive officer Allison Gallaugher said the bar, restaurant, lounge, gaming tables and electronic-gaming machines would be open from noon for the first time in five months.

"It's a huge relief. We have 230-plus staff who depend on us for their livelihoods," she said.

"We also have team members who are visa holders who don't qualify for JobKeeper, so it is a great relief that we can get them back to work and earning some money again."

In addition to health regulations which limit numbers to 100 seated customers or one customer per four square metres, Casino Canberra has introduced its own COVID-19 safety precautions.

Staff and patrons will have their temperatures checked on entry, there will be perspex screens on gaming tables, a reduction in players at tables and a COVID-19 marshal on duty to ensure compliance.

Ms Gallaugher said she firmly believed they could guarantee the safety of customers in what had been deemed a high-risk environment.

"Patrons will not handle cards, our chips are cleaned regularly and all machines and gaming stations are cleaned between every customer," Ms Gallaugher said.

"Our focus remains on the health and safety of patrons, employees and the community."

Chief Minister Andrew Barr's announcement this week will also allow pokies to be turned back on at ACT clubs, escort agencies and saunas to reopen and food courts to offer dine-in service.

There will be no limit on the size of groups who can drink in bars, clubs and pubs without ordering food, but they must be seated. Up to 25 patrons will be allowed in gyms during unstaffed hours.

On Friday, the Canberra Theatre Centre welcomed back its first live audience since the shutdown in March.

An audience of 80 people were welcomed to a revamped performance space for the finale of The World From Here with Chris Endrey.

Streamed weekly on the theatre's Facebook page every Friday throughout the closure, the variety show had amassed more than 12,000 views over six weeks.

Theatre director Alex Budd said there had been plenty going on inside the venue since March, albeit without the all-important audience.

Mr Budd said the theatre initially had maintenance both backstage and in public spaces and over the last eight weeks local artists had performed for its live-streamed shows.

He said the theatre's more than 100 staff, who were a mix of full-time and casual employees, had maintained their jobs throughout COVID-19, with the ACT government deploying them to different roles where required.

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While grateful they were all kept busy, Mr Budd confirmed an empty theatre was not the happiest place on earth.

"The most traumatic thing is just not having artists and production and audiences in the building," he said.

"You don't realise how important that is to your daily mental health until they're gone."

Mr Budd said until coronavirus cases were stabilised somewhat in Victoria, it would be very difficult to consider scheduling performers from outside of Canberra.

"A show's tour budget is conditional on it getting to perform everywhere and if Melbourne is still in the abyss that it's in it's going to prove problematic," he said.

For now, Canberrans will be limited to the theatre's Link Bar, the large foyer space which is utilised normally for the audience from both theatres in the interval and beforehand.