Melbourne residents are now allowed to drive within a 5-kilometre radius of their homes to exercise, after the Chief Health Officer said he would review the rules.
Until now, travelling in a car to exercise was not permitted under the stage 4 restrictions imposed on metropolitan Melbourne.
However, after he was questioned about the restriction at a press conference, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he would talk to police about relaxing the rules.
"Look, we are aware that people have talked about [not being able to drive to exercise] as an unreasonable constraint," he said.
"I'm happy to talk to the Chief Commissioner of Police, Shane Patton, about what the threshold should be for that.
"I don't want anyone to feel unsafe getting to a place of exercise, if we can make revisions around the directions, if that's required."
Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services later confirmed the rule had changed.
"Every Victorian must follow the directions of the Chief Health Officer — that includes taking your daily exercise at the closest practicable location within 5km of home," a spokesperson said in a statement.
"You may drive to a location such as a park or running track within your 5km radius to exercise, ensuring you are exercising for a maximum of one hour, once a day."
The Chief Health Officer's direction, which lays out the restrictions, will be updated from Friday to reflect the change, but it has already taken effect.
Under stage 4 restrictions, people in Melbourne are only allowed to leave their homes for a maximum of one hour at a time, and cannot venture outside of a 5km radius without a good reason.
The time taken to drive to an exercise venue is included in the one-hour time limit.
