The border brokers task force, consisting of eight 'brokers' representing different Victorian border communities, was first announced by the government in early September.

The group looked to work with the Victorian cross-border commissioner's office to deliver on-the-ground support to border communities affected by state border closures with Victoria.

However, Apsley resident and Cross Border Call Out founder Paula Gust said details, such as the names of the brokers and how they would provide assistance to residents, were still unclear.

"From what I can gather from all of the responses I have received, nobody is taking it too seriously and they think it is another layer of the government looking to be seen to be doing something," she said.

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"You can't just call them up, you have to explain your whole situation to the cross-border commissioner's office first, and then they decided who goes to where.

"You still have to go through all of the red tape to get some help. You have to explain the whole situation to the cross-border commissioner's office and then explaining the whole thing again to whoever you are allocated to."

A spokesperson from Regional Development Victoria said the border brokers were in direct contact with businesses and industry representatives, but was unable to provide the names or details of any of the brokers.

"Border Brokers are working to support businesses and industries impacted by restrictions on Victoria's borders in a range of ways, including a loss of access to staff, suppliers and customers," the spokesperson said.

"Border Brokers are based at various locations across the state and work within Regional Development Victoria and Agriculture Victoria.

"Their work complements that of the Cross Border Commissioner, who provides advice and advocacy into the Victorian Government and into neighbouring states to help mitigate the impacts of border restrictions on community members."

Ms Gust said the lack of information on the border brokers had undermined the border community's trust in them.

"Why even call them border brokers, why not just say that you have put on eight extra staff to assist your office. Unless they were willing to contact your particular border area, they are really just extra staff members who can't be reached directly," she said.

"Increasing the trust was the whole point of putting the border brokers on too.

"Keeping their names secret, it is very odd and I think they have placed it to look like they are doing something when essentially all they have done is put on eight more support staff for the same sort of service that the cross-border commissioner's office already provides."

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