Department of Health provider alert (15 November 2021)
The Department of Health has issued a COVID-19 vaccination – Disability Provider Alert 15 November 2021.
The alert contains important information about the continued rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, including:
- the statement from the Acting NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner about the rights of NDIS participants to access COVID-19 vaccine
- updated information in the Disability Provider Information Kit
- the statement from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) on mandating vaccination for disability workers
- third dose recommendations for people who are immunocompromised
- advice about booster doses
- information from the Queensland and Victorian Governments on in-home vaccinations for people with disability
- current hubs offering vaccination services. These hubs are set up to vaccinate people with disability and disability workers. The list will be updated regularly
- expanded support services for people with disability and their support networks when contacting the National Coronavirus helpline.
We encourage you to read the Department of Health provider alert for full details.
Promoting access to COVID-19 Vaccinations
Supporting NDIS participants to access COVID-19 vaccinations
All NDIS participants aged 12 years and over are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Acting Commissioner has published a statement about the right of people with disability to make their own decision about COVID-19 vaccination, and the role of NDIS providers and workers in supporting participants. This was sent to registered providers on 5 November 2021.
Providers should take all steps to assist participants that they support to access the vaccination where they need assistance to do so. Further information is available on the Department of Health website, including Easy Read and Auslan resources.
Our provider alert of 9 June 2021 contained resources to help you to support participants to understand the vaccination process and to provide informed consent.
Our fact sheet, called ‘COVID-19 Vaccines: Informed consent, preparing for the vaccine, and restrictive practices’, aims to assist NDIS providers to better understand their obligations when supporting people with disability to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccination advice and information for disability workers
All disability workers are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19, to protect their own health and the health of people with disability they support.
All states and territories have issued public health orders or directions with mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for workers, including disability workers or announced their intention to issue such orders:
Providers are strongly encouraged to check the details of the public health orders in their state or territory and any requirements for providers in respect of the vaccination status of disability workers.
Our 22 November 2021 provider alert was sent to NDIS providers that are registered to deliver intensive support services to NDIS participants. It contained details about a request for information under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 regarding the COVID-19 vaccination status of workers.
The Department of Health has dedicated information pages for disability service providers about COVID-19 vaccines.
- Providers: The webpage for disability service providers contains information and resources to help you plan for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
- Disability workers: The webpage for disability workers contains information and resources about COVID-19 vaccines for disability workers.
The Department of Health will continue to update the information on these pages, so we strongly encourage you to visit these pages regularly.
NDIS Commission COVID-19 vaccine information and resources
The COVID-19 vaccine information webpage on our website contains links to updates about COVID-19 vaccines and resources for NDIS providers.
