Published 2nd February 2021
Residential aged care facility staff and residents are a priority under the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Vaccines National Rollout Strategy and will be among the first people in Australia to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Phase 1a.
A staged rollout of the vaccine is expected to commence from mid-February 2021.
COVID-19 vaccines will be safe and free for everyone living in Australia. The Australian Government strongly encourages everyone to get vaccinated.
A COVID-19 vaccine is just one part of keeping the community safe and healthy. It is important for everyone to continue COVIDSafe practises.
We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
We will keep you informed about COVID-19 vaccines and the rollout via this newsletter, and more information will be distributed to residential aged care facilities, people in residential aged care, aged care sector peak bodies and stakeholder groups, and the general public soon.
You can find more information, including translated information, and subscribe to receive the COVID-19 Vaccines Updates on our COVID-19 vaccines website.
You can also get regular updates via the Department of Health’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Based on current case numbers in the community and within aged care residents and staff in these areas, current single site workforce arrangements in hotspots and high risk locations can begin to cease. The Australian Government would like to thank the residential aged care sector for its hard work and collaboration in moving to these arrangements.
Public Sector facilities in Victoria are continuing single site arrangements until February 2021, as funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, Queensland Government Aged Care Direction No.22 remains in place which recommends Aged Care Facilities limit the mobility of their workers.
Australian Government funding support under the Support for Aged Care Workers in COVID-19 Grant (SACWIC) is available to support providers who have implemented single site arrangements during the relevant grant period.
Providers should commence transition out activities so that normal working arrangements can recommence from the dates set out below. After these dates, eligible providers can submit applications for the SACWIC grant. This will remain open until 30 June 2021. Providers can submit an application for out of pocket expenses after 22 January 2021.
State
Local Government Area/Suburb
SACWIC Grant Activity Period
New South Wales
Northern Beaches LGA
18 December 2020 – 29 January 2021
Victoria
Brighton
31 December 2020 – 29 January 2021
Doveton
Glen Waverley
McKinnon
Mordialloc
Moorabbin
Queensland
City of Brisbane
8 January 2021 – 22 January 2021
City of Ipswich
Logan City
Moreton Bay Region
Redland City
Providers are also encouraged to take steps to understand your workforce by developing a register for recording each workers’ mobility and their skills and training. Further advice on how to prepare for and implement a single site workforce arrangement can be found in the National COVID-19 Aged Care Plan. This guidance will support providers to prepare in the event single site arrangements are required again in the future.
For guidance on practical implementation of single site arrangements and the available funding support, providers can visit the Guiding Principles Support Hub website or phone the hotline on 1800 491 793.
NSW Health has updated its advice for Residential Aged Care Facilities and Home Care Service providers has been updated as at 21 January 2021.
This latest advice is that residential aged care facilities must:
exclude all staff and visitors who:
Please ensure you and your staff are regularly checking the latest COVID-19 locations for NSW, Victoria and Queensland to ensure you are meeting the requirements for visitor and staff exclusions.
Aged care providers are urged to regularly visit the NSW COVID-19 website on areas of active community transmission in order to stay up to date with advice as it changes.
Queensland Health has issued Aged Care Direction No.22 which came into effect from 1am on 22 January 2021. This direction is summarised below and we encourage you to be across the full detail of the direction.
Visitors do not need an exemption from the Chief Health Officer to enter a residential aged care facility for an end of life visit if they have been in Greater Brisbane since 2 January 2021.
Visitors still need an exemption for an end of life visit if they have been overseas or in a hotspot in the last 14 days.
The direction remains that a person must not enter, or remain on, the premises of a residential aged care facility if during the prior 14 days the person’s circumstances place them at greater risk of introducing COVID-19 into a RACF.
The Directions also encourage, where possible, that staff do not work across multiple sites. This includes agency workers and staff working in aged care across other settings such as hospitals. Operators must develop a Workforce Management Plan.
Anyone providing medical care (including staff, volunteers or family members) must wear appropriate PPE as outlined in Queensland Health’s Residential Aged Care facility and Disability Accommodation PPE Guidance.
All approved aged care providers are urged to continue to monitor and remain up to date with the list of COVID-19 exposure sites across jurisdictions. State and territory health authorities continue to update these lists as new information becomes available. We encourage providers to ensure staff are also familiar with these lists.
A reminder that as a part of the second COVID-19 supplement, residential aged care providers are required to put in place an infection prevention and control (IPC) lead.
Nominated IPC leads should now be undertaking specialist IPC training (if not previously completed) in order to complete this by 28 February 2021. Providers are strongly encouraged to support their nominated IPC lead to meet this deadline.
Residential aged care providers were required to report their IPC leads to the Department in December 2020 through the My Aged Care Provider Portal. Providers can continue to update this information in the portal to reflect any changes to nominated leads and/or progression through the training. The Department will be contacting providers who have yet to report or misreported shortly.
Source:Unknown Author, 2021, Department of Health (https://www.health.gov.au/)
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