It's been a month since Melbourne's mask rules last changed, with compulsory face coverings brought back into effect in mid-July in tandem with the city's fifth lockdown. Now, in mid-August, Melbourne is currently almost two weeks into its sixth lockdown — and mask requirements didn't change during the nine days between stay-at-home stints.

But, come 11.59pm tonight, Monday, August 16, the rules around donning face coverings will tighten even further. At Victoria's daily COVID-19 press conference today, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Melburnians will no longer be allowed to remove their face masks if they're out of the house and drinking alcoholic beverages in public.

The move comes in response to reports over the weekend of people flouting lockdown restrictions with venue crawls and big outdoor gatherings.