Published 31st August 2021
Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) as industry leaders are working together to support residential aged care providers to respond to the mandate for COVID-19 vaccination for their staff.
ACSA and LASA are working with the Department of Health to proactively engage with those providers where uptake of vaccination is low or at risk of not being achieved by the 17 September deadline.
The Staff Vaccination Support Service will build on the successful collaboration by the sector to support single site working implementation. This service will be available to all those providers identified by the Department as needing or who have requested additional support, to realise effective, efficient and safe vaccination of their staff. This service is provided by ACSA and LASA to all residential aged care approved providers.
The service will provide:
Information will shortly be available on the department's website.
A series of jurisdiction-specific webinars will be presented to residential aged care workers over the next two weeks.
The webinars are to further support the residential aged care workforce on priority COVID-19 vaccination and to provide information about your state or territory public health order for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.
Workers are encouraged to save-the-date for the webinar in their region. Dates and times are available below:
Day
Date
Time (AEST)
Jurisdiction
Thursday
26 August
11.30am - 12.30pm
SA
Friday
27 August
11.00am - 12.00pm
TAS
2.00pm - 3.00pm
QLD
Monday
30 August
VIC
Wednesday
1 September
2.30pm - 3.30pm
NSW
3 September
ACT
NT
These live webinars will provide an opportunity for residential aged care workers to get information on mandatory vaccination and to ask any questions they may have about vaccine safety and efficacy.
Each session will be chaired by the Commonwealth Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd, AM or Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Adj. Professor Alison McMillan with panellists including:
The webinars will run for around one hour with brief opening remarks from the chairperson and panellists, followed by a substantive Q&A session aimed at addressing the questions and concerns most important to workers.
More information, including panellist and login details will be available shortly.
For WA residential aged care workers and providers, please see details of the WA Health – Residential Aged Care Worker Vaccination webinar scheduled for Wednesday 25 August at 1:15pm-2pm (AWST).
The screening advice for residential aged care facilities and home care service providers has been updated for 22 August 2021.
The key messages for this update include:
This information can change rapidly so please check the NSW Health website at least daily for updates.
The previous guidance has been updated to clarify that the PPE guidance applies Statewide.
For full details please refer to the Guidance on COVID-19 risks for residential aged care facilities for Metro Melbourne and for (updated) Regional Victoria.
Please don’t hesitate to contact if you have any questions.
Further advice is available in the Victorian guidance for residential aged care facilities - current restrictions.
Please see the updated CHO Directions No.48 of 2021: Directions for Aged Care Facilities - signed by the CHO at 11:47am on 19 August 2021. These Directions took effect upon signing and apply throughout the Norther Territory.
These Directions restore the previous Aged Care directions, with one key change: mandatory vaccination for aged care workers.
Mandatory vaccinationNational Cabinet have announced that all aged care workers are to have had at least their first COVID-19 vaccination by mid-September 2021.
These Directions state that a person who is an officer, employee or contractor of an aged care facility must not enter or remain on the premises of the aged care facility if the person has not had:
Evidence of vaccination must be given to the proprietor of the facility. The proprietor must keep a record of the vaccination status of all officers, employees or contractors. If requested by an authorised officer, the proprietor must provide this information to the authorised officer.
This information can change rapidly so please check the NT Health website regularly for updates.
As part of the Aged Care COVID-10 grief and trauma response package, the Department has funded expert organisations to provide grief, trauma and dementia support for those living, working and caring for people in the aged care sector.
There are several webinars that have been hosted that are available for viewing. Please encourage your staff and colleagues to view them and seek support when needed.
Accessing grief and trauma supporting during COVID-19 (hosted by OPAN)
Identifying and managing trauma within the aged care sector (hosted by Phoenix)
Understanding trauma and dementia in aged care (hosted by Phoenix)Trauma-informed practice in aged care: Practical strategies (hosted by Phoenix)
Exploring how trauma informed care can be introduced throughout the aged care sector to better support older people affected by trauma
Trauma-informed practice in the aged care workforce: Wellbeing and self-care strategies for individuals, teams, and organisations (hosted by Phoenix)
The loss and grief experienced by aged care staff in the wake of COVID-19 (hosted by the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement)
More informationA brochure in 64 languages as well as an Indigenous design, and poster in 10 languages raising awareness of the supports available for download are on the Department’s grief and trauma COVID-19 support services page.
Fact sheets on grief and loss in aged care, as well as trauma and self-care in aged care in multiple languages are available to order. Brochures, posters and fact sheets can be ordered in print at no cost to you using the resource order form on the program resources page.
For more information contact .
The Department is committed to continuous improvement of consumer supports, programs and services.
Please complete this short, 5-minute survey to help us evaluate the aged care COVID-19 grief and trauma response package. The survey will assess:
Who should fill in the survey?We’d like to hear from all aged care stakeholders, regardless of your awareness/involvement in the package. This survey is intended to capture the aged care provider experience, so is for:
Background on the package:The emotional and psychological impacts of COVID-19 right across the aged care sector have caused grief and trauma for many. The Australian Government has funded a Grief and Trauma Response Package (the Package) to provide grief and trauma support and resources to aged care recipients, their loved ones and the aged care staff.
You can complete the survey which will be open until 11:59pm on Monday 23 August.
There will be a subsequent survey to capture the perspective of older people and their loved ones.
If you have any questions about the survey, please contact: HealthConsult Project Manager Amy Monk via or the Department project team .
Source:Unknown Author, 2021, Department of Health (https://www.health.gov.au/)
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