Maskless Victorians can now be fined up to $3600 for repeatedly failing to wear one on public transport.
The steep sanction comes as the state prepares to wind back most of its remaining Covid restrictions – including mask rules in most indoor settings besides those deemed high risk.
New regulations allow for a fine of $181.74 for failing to wear a mask when required by a pandemic order, to be issued up to 20 times.
However, the $3634 cap would be reserved for the most prolific offenders and on-the-spot penalties will remain at $100.
Mask compliance on the state’s public transport has plummeted since Omicron cases began to plummet last month.
In January, compliance was at 78 per cent for tram users, while on trains it was at 73 per cent.
Compliance levels for both hovered around 90 per cent when each peaked in late 2021.
From Friday, Victorians will only have to wear masks when on public transport, in a rideshare or when at a hospital or aged care facility.
However, staff in hospitality and retail will still have to be masked up while working.
The same applies for primary school students from grade 3 upwards who will also be required to wear a mask in the classroom.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the lack of change in school settings is partially due to a lacking vaccination rate among the age group.
“I’d like to see them higher and while [the figures] grow every day, they’re perhaps lower than we thought they would be,” he said.
“We’re going to a situation on Friday where there are essentially no Covid rules, or so few that it’s unrecognisable to what it was a year ago, and indeed what it was two years ago.”
The mask mandate will also remain for people working indoors at an event with more than 30,000 people.
