COVID-19
COVID-19 information for service providers
Funded organisations: Funding assistance for extraordinary COVID-19 related expenses
Organisations may be incurring extraordinary costs that are not covered within the scope of an Individual Flexibility Agreement (IFA) or their usual operating expenses and which would not be expected to be incurred during the usual course of delivering their services in a non-pandemic setting. These may be accrued in response to the pandemic and to ensure appropriate compliance with preventative controls, Chief Health Officer Directions, and maintaining a safe environment for staff, visitors, and children and young people.
Examples of extraordinary COVID-related costs include, but may not be limited to, expenses such as:
- Specialist COVID-19 cleaning
- Specialised Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Rapid Antigen Tests
- Specialist dedicated resources engaged to provide COVID readiness and response activities
- Health Practitioner appointments to undertake testing
- Design, delivery and/or sourcing of COVID-19 specific training
- Additional staffing required to cover rosters and maintain the stability of a direct care service.
Where these costs can be directly and legitimately evidenced as a COVID-related expense and are not included within the scope of an IFA or existing funding agreement, organisations can seek funding assistance from the department. The department anticipates these costs will generally be incurred in residential care settings where face-to-face contact must be maintained.
If your organisation wishes to seek funding assistance for extraordinary COVID-19 related expenses incurred to date, and you have not done so already, please contact your nominated departmental Contract Officer to discuss and arrange the approach most suited to your organisation’s individual contract arrangements.
Housing and Homelessness Providers
Social and public housing tenants
Department of Housing customers are encouraged to contact their local Housing Service Centre by telephone and adhere to Queensland Health advice. Housing help is available for people who need it. Anyone experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness can call the 24/7 Homeless Hotline on 1800 474 753, or their local Housing Service Centre (HSC), where trained staff are available to assist.
Disability and aged care providers
General information and latest advice
For information about support available to providers, please visit NDIS Information and support.
For information about payments that might be available and billing, please visit NDIS payments and billing.
- Australian Government: Latest news and information for Disability providers
- Australian Government: Latest news and information for Aged Care providers
Personal and Protective Equipment (PPE) updates
Disability Accommodation Services in Queensland
There are no longer any Public Health Directions requiring a person to be vaccinated in high risk settings (as of 6:00pm, Monday 31 October 2022). These locations include:
- early childhood, primary and secondary education
- prisons, youth detention centres and watch houses
- airports
- residential aged care facilities
- shared disability accommodation services
- primary care, private hospitals and private allied health services.
Decisions on mandatory vaccinations will instead be made by the owner or operator of these settings.
Disability Gateway service
The Disability Gateway provides information and referrals for people with disability who need help because of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Helpline can help families, carers and support workers, too. The Disability Gateway is free, private and fact-checked.
Contact it:
- Phone (free call): 1800 643 787
- If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, you can also call the National Relay Service on 133 677
- If you require support in another language, you can use the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) free of charge by:
calling the Disability Information Helpline on 1800 643 787 and asking for an interpreter, or - calling TIS on 131 450 and ask to be connected to the Disability Information Helpline on 1800 643 787.
When you call the Helpline, you will speak to a person who will:
- listen carefully to you
- use their connections to find things out, check the facts, and get information for you
- transfer you to services that can help you
- transfer you to a phone counsellor for emotional support, if you would like
- give you clear and accessible information.
The Disability Gateway is funded by the Australian Government. The Disability Gateway is available Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 8:00pm (AEST). It is not available on national public holidays.
Disability Provider COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness Toolkit
This Australian Government toolkit includes:
- information on what to expect on COVID-19 vaccination day at your disability residential accommodation (information for people with disability, families and carers)
- checklist for planning and delivering vaccinations
- information on roles and responsibilities for COVID-19 vaccination at disability residential accommodation sites
- information on site readiness requirements for vaccination sites
- consent guidance material
- information on how vaccine providers should allocate excess doses of COVID-19 vaccines
- information on monitoring and reporting side effects.
COVID-19 kit for support coordinators
The Growing Space and other support coordination providers have developed an online COVID-19 kit for Support Coordinators.
The free downloadable resource contains a range of useful checklists, contacts and templates for support coordinators to help NDIS participants, their families and carers manage risks associated with COVID-19.