"We want to see someone being held accountable," they said.
St Basil's Home for the Aged was sentenced in the Victorian County Court on Wednesday over one of the deadliest nursing home outbreaks in 2020, when almost half of its residents died after contracting COVID-19.
Forty-five residents became infected with the disease and died from virus-related complications after the organisation failed to ensure all staff were properly trained to minimise health risks.
St Basil's admitted one charge of failing to train and supervise five workers on how to properly don and take off personal protective equipment and the circumstances around when PPE needed to be worn.
Judge Trevor Wraight convicted the care home and fined it $150,000, saying the operator was well aware of the COVID-19 outbreak risks but failed to enforce all measures required to maintain a safe workplace.
The home was not charged or sentenced over the residents' deaths, rather for breaching workplace health and safety responsibilities.
"Here, there were weaknesses in the system, where five staff did not receive training, giving rise to the identified risks," he said.
Outside court, the families of three victims labelled the punishment disappointing.
"It's absolutely ridiculous. It's a joke. Five years to come to this - $150,000 for 45 lives," Maxine Mitsinikos, whose mother Georgia died at St Basil's, said.
Spiros Vasiliakis, who also lost his mother Maria, said families had placed their trust in the provider to take care of their loved ones.
"They weren't," he said.
"In the most crucial time of their need to care, and a showing of duty of care, they completely dropped the ball."
The victims' children say they wanted to set a precedent for future employers to protect their staff and residents.
"The workers are there to work, but management is accountable. That's what they're getting paid for," Ms Mitsinikos said.
St Basil's had engaged external doctors to train staff over five sessions between March and June 2020, but five members did not receive training.
In July 2020, a staffer who had worked the previous day informed management of their positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
There were 92 residents and 106 workers at the home at the time. As well as the 45 resident deaths, 45 employees also contracted the virus.
"As a result of St Basil's failure to provide training (to all workers), not all staff understood the donning and doffing procedure," Judge Wraight said.
The aged care home faced a maximum penalty of $1.4 million.
Judge Wraight acknowledged the prolonged criminal process, which has lasted for more than five years, and heavy media scrutiny as mitigating factors in his sentencing decision
He also acknowledged St Basil's has since upgraded its systems and procedures in preparation for future disease outbreaks.
WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said it highlighted the need for employers to properly train their employees on how to manage health and safety risks in a workplace.
"Training isn't just an optional extra, it's business critical," he said.
The victims' families are considering a class action lawsuit against the provider while a coroner is also separately investigating the deaths.
