Virus causes disability staffing shortages
Disability service workers urgently need more support from state and federal governments as COVID-19 has caused severe staffing shortages, according to union officials and the industry’s peak body.
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People with disabilities are being left to sleep in their wheelchairs because support workers don’t have access to PPE and RATs
Under these current policy settings, experts say, Australians with disabilities are being left to fend for themselves, as workers with little to no workplace protection fall out of the workforce in droves.
Covid-related staff shortages in Australian disability sector leave some without vital services
Large swathes of the disability service sector have been forced into Covid isolation, leaving some clients without access to vital services, while a major provider has only been able to source seven rapid antigen tests for its entire workforce in one state.
Experts call for a change of course on COVID, with urgent recommendations for care of people with disabilities
On 30 December, a senior psychiatrist tweeted out her frustration at mismanagement of the COVID pandemic in Australia using the “#LetItRip” hashtag. “Australia is a failing nation state with no leadership, accountability, provision of basic services or public health. Any wonder we are disillusioned,” said Professor Louise Newman, a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
People with disability ‘at risk’ due to acute staff shortages across Australia
Staff shortages in the disability sector in Australia have gone from bad to worse due to a dearth of rapid antigen test kits and long queues at COVID-19 PCR testing sites.
People with disability ‘completely overlooked’ as Omicron surges
But Ms Gibbs feels those with disability have been forgotten by state and federal governments as Australia reopens. “I can take all the personal responsibility in the world but if I need to go and do an essential thing like go to the supermarket, other people’s actions have a direct impact on it,” she said. “We are being made to ask enormous, difficult decisions so that other people can go to the pub … and so other people don’t have to wear a mask.”
Reasonable and Necessary Special series: Living with COVID
Reasonable and Necessary is usually a podcast series about making Sense of the NDIS , where each podcast episode aims to simplify the NDIS for participants, their families and anyone supporting NDIS participants to work their way through the system. This is a special series that focusses on how people with disability can live safely with COVID-19.
Building back better: How disability inclusion is essential to recover and reset post pandemic
There has been a catastrophic failure globally to preserve the lives, health and rights of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has dramatically deepened pre-existing inequalities for people with disabilities.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021
As governments and the international community continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, and chart a course forward, it is essential that disability inclusion is central to health system planning, development, and decision making. Strong, effective health systems support robust health emergencies management.
Bushfire recovery project
Communities and individuals are better able to recover from natural disasters, such as bushfires, if the local community is strong, connected and well-supported. This project is engaging community organisations and individuals in those areas of Victoria affected by the 2019-20 bushfires.
The vulnerable disabled who need advocates
Is the government so out of touch with the disability community that it did not realise there were barriers to vaccination, including anxiety and difficult behaviours that would require assistance? Our son weighs 110 kilograms and was not going to let anybody come at him with a needle. Following an intense search, we were lucky to find medical practitioners who could think outside the box, and with the support of Barwon Health’s Disability Support Unit, our son was vaccinated under anaesthetic in July.
Australians living with disabilities find joy, independence and connection despite the pandemic
The pandemic has brought with it different challenges for everyone. But for some Australians with a disability, it’s been a chance to find joy, independence and new passions.
Vaccination blitz for Victorians with a disability begins
Residents with a disability will be able to receive a jab at all state-run vaccination centres without a booking. Ten new vaccination pop-up hubs will also be launched to speed up vaccination rates for Victorians living with a disability.
Immoral and inexcusable’: how Australians in disability homes fell from the front of the vaccine queue
“We started to get calls saying, ‘When are these guys showing up’?” says Moody, who was until June the chief executive of a peak body for national disability insurance scheme providers. “It’s fair to say that was the cry from providers for the next three months after. ‘When are they coming?’ It was clear something … Continued
Increased COVID support for NDIS workers in Victoria
Eligible NDIS providers in Victoria will be able to claim a one-off payment from the NDIA to cover costs for support workers to receive their COVID-19 vaccination.