I personally think
I personally think that COVID is a really weak excuse for this...
You apply online.. your documents are submitted online, the case officers work online...your approval is done online..even your ceremony is done online... Last I checked, COVID cannot transmit through the internet...
The only thing you need to be present for is the interview and the test which if processed for 100 people a day ( not a big deal if you have 5 case officers assigned to this)... And you work for 250 days a year.. that's 25000 people every year so over 2 years would be 50k people.. the number of applicants we see online of 145k would most probably include children as well.. who don't need an interview... Let's say 40k of those are children..that means 100k applications across AU.. and maybe around 30k of whom are in VIC..
Anyways, this is just my theory and I am sure there are many factors involved.. however the govt should explain what exactly is taking so long... People have left behind a lot to reach here and deserve the respect to know why do they have to wait for so long.