Victorians, Use our government’s QR codes correctly — it’s finally compulsory

“Back in COVID” is a phrase many of us utter and hear uttered each and every day. We all wish the pandemic was over but if you’ve seen the news in the past month you’d know that there are many countries overseas still struggling to overcome the sheer magnitude of the disease process — it is far from over.

In our post-lockdown world here in Victoria we are all starting to get a bit lackadaisical with our COVID-19 protocols, including signing into venues we visit. Now that is not just your or my fault but some magnitude of the blame needs to be apportioned to our government and their digital offering. Service Victoria is nowhere near as good as the Service NSW service.

One thing the Victorian government are finally doing is making it to now be compulsory to not just check in at every venue you visit, to not just have every single venue insist that everyone who enters their establishment sign in using their QR code, but to finally have every single establishment in the state use the Victorian QR code check-in service.  This is to make contact tracing easier and faster.  

Unfortunately, not all Android smartphones can easily use and scan QR codes.  We wrote a how-to for Google Lens and QR codes back in January but now there is an even simpler solution — use the Service Victoria app for all QR code check ins.

So how do you use it?

The app is simple — if you don’t try to create an account on it.  You do not need an account to log in and I suggest you avoid the frustration of trying to make one.

Do not even bother opening your camera app — even if the camera app on your phone does scan QR codes, the link it gives will just send you to the Service Victoria website anyway and the app is essentially a web wrapper anyway.  Just use the app.

Open the app, click on the “Contact tracing Check-in” box down the bottom.  This will then launch a QR code reader.  Give the app the requisite permissions it asks for to scan the QR code, hold the phone up to the QR code until it sits inside the box.

Once detected all you will need to do is enter your first name and your phone number.  Once you have entered it a first time you can save your details for faster Check-in next time.  On the off chance you already have a Service Victoria account you can log in on the app which will help with Check-in speeds. 

Simple as that.  No need for random QR readers anymore.  No need to worry about your camera app not reading the QR code anymore.  No need to have to figure out how each venue’s QR Check-in system works.  

These instructions work for both Android and iPhone and if you are going to end up on the Service Victoria site anyway you may as well just use the app for everything.

Service Victoria – Apps on Google Play

‎Service Victoria on the App Store (apple.com)