30 July 2021

Coronavirus (COVID-19): NSW lockdown extension and new restrictions in some local government areas​

The NSW Government has extended the current public health directions that apply to providers in Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Shellharbour and the Central Coast regions of NSW. Additional restrictions now apply in local government areas (LGAs) of concern.

Key points

• The current lockdown restrictions in Greater Sydney have been extended until 12.01am AEST on 28 August 2021.
• Parramatta, Georges River and Campbelltown have been added to the LGAs of concern and residents can only leave their LGA if they are an authorised worker. Disability workers are classified as authorised workers.
• From 12.01am AEST on Friday 30 July 2021, people that live or stay in any of the eight LGAs of concern must wear a mask at all times when leaving home. Exercise and essential shopping in these LGAs has been reduced to within 5km from your place of residence.
• People in Greater Sydney outside of LGAs of concern must limit their shopping to within their LGA or within 10km from home unless the item is not available locally. 
• No visitors are allowed into residential disability accommodation in Greater Sydney.
• There are updated requirements for authorised workers who require mandatory testing.
• Disability workers are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
• NDIS providers should review their outbreak management and business continuity plans and take steps to prevent the risk of infection of NDIS participants and workers.
• Notify the NDIS Commission of any significant changes to services or supports as a result of the new restrictions.

Lockdown extension and updated guidance

Lockdown extension

The NSW Government has extended the current lockdown restrictions in Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Shellharbour and the Central Coast regions of NSW.

The restrictions are in place until 12.01am AEST on Saturday 28 August 2021.

Updated directions for Parramatta, Georges River and Campbelltown LGAs

The NSW Government has updated restrictions for people who live or are staying in the following LGAs, from midnight on Wednesday 28 July 2021:

• Parramatta
• Georges River
• Campbelltown.

These restrictions already apply for the following LGAs:

• Cumberland
• Blacktown
• Liverpool
• Fairfield
• Canterbury-Bankstown.

People who live in these areas cannot leave their LGA for the purposes of work, unless they are an authorised worker. Disability workers are classified as authorised workers under these restrictions, and should continue providing supports to people with disability where possible in accordance with the restrictions.

New restrictions for LGAs of concern

The NSW Government has announced new restrictions for the eight LGAs of concern (Blacktown, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool and Parramatta).

From 12.01am AEST on Friday 30 July 2021, people that live or stay in any of the eight LGAs:

• must wear a mask at all times when leaving home
• can only exercise and do essential shopping within 5km from their place of residence.

Restrictions for Greater Sydney outside of LGAs of concern

People in Greater Sydney, outside the current LGAs of concern, must limit their shopping to within their LGA or if outside their LGA, within 10km from home, unless the item is not available locally.

You should contact the people with disability that you support to ensure they have essential supplies.

You should:

• ensure that these directions are complied with when supporting participants who live in these LGAs to access essential services or exercise
• ensure that you, your workers and the people with disability that you support understand what these changes are, and how they affect the supports and services you deliver
• make contact with the people with disability that you support who live alone. Ensure they have everything they need to stay at home safely. Offer assistance if they need it.

Residential disability accommodation

No visitors are allowed into residential disability accommodation in Greater Sydney.

We encourage you to read the full details on the restrictions on the NSW Health website.

Mandatory surveillance testing for some Greater Sydney workers

There are updated requirements for authorised workers in the LGAs of concern who may require mandatory COVID-19 surveillance testing.

As the situation evolves, these requirements are subject to change. Please refer to the NSW Government website, and ensure that you and your workers follow the current directions.

Promoting access to COVID-19 Vaccinations

Information about access to COVID-19 vaccinations should be promoted, to both the NDIS participants you support and your workers.

Supporting NDIS participants to access COVID-19 vaccinations

Our provider alert of 9 June 2021 contained resources to help you to support them 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.

The Australian Government Department of Health (Department of Health) has published an information page on their website for people with disability about COVID-19 vaccines. This page contains important information for providers and participants about COVID-19 vaccines, and will be updated regularly. A range of Easy Read and Auslan resources about the COVID-19 vaccines are also available. We strongly encourage you to visit these resources and share them with the people with disability that you support. 

Vaccination advice and information for disability workers

The Department of Health issued a Disability Provider Alert on 12 July 2021. This alert contained strong encouragement from National Cabinet for all disability workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, to protect your own health and the health of the people with disability you support.

We encourage you to read the full details in the alert.

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.

Outbreak preparedness

Registered NDIS providers have obligations to have outbreak management and business continuity plans which:

• identify which supports are critical for the health, wellbeing and safety of a person with disability
• identify and assess risks to people you support, your workers and to the organisation, and implement controls to mitigate these.

For guidance on preventing and managing COVID-19 outbreaks in disability residential settings, please refer to the Communicable Diseases Network Australia’s (CDNA) disability supplement.

Additionally, the NDIS Commission’s fact sheet on outbreak preparedness provides information on preparing for, preventing and managing an outbreak in disability settings. 

You should consider the following as part of your emergency planning and preparedness:

• review and update your emergency plans, including arrangements to ensure that you meet your obligations to maintain continuity of support to NDIS participants
• outline workforce contingency plans in the event of an outbreak
• set up an outbreak management team with an incident controller
• establish a COVID-19 incident reporting process.

Supporting participants

• Continue to provide support to people with disability to have safe community access for essential supports (such as exercising, essential shopping, accessing the COVID-19 vaccine, or attending medical appointments).
• Identify any participants who have advance care or healthcare or support plans, and keep a copy.
• If any participants are at higher risk, prepare a hospital bag with things they might need for an overnight stay.

Infection control

• Implement standard infection control precautions throughout all work places.
• Ensure all your workers are familiar with and practice sound infection control, physical distancing and hygiene practices throughout all work places.
• Ensure all workers have been trained and have had refreshers on infection control and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Undertake a stocktake of PPE and consumables to ensure you have adequate PPE stock in the event of a confirmed or suspected infection.
• Source additional supplies if necessary.
• Plan for increased environmental cleaning.
• Develop an appropriate isolation approach, should one become necessary.
• Minimise staff working across multiple sites.

Communications

• Establish communication channels to keep your workforce informed.
• Review strategies for communicating with participants and their support networks.

Notification of changes or events

You must notify the NDIS Commission of any change or event that significantly affects your ability to comply with any of your conditions of registration, including compliance with the NDIS Practice Standards. You must use the COVID-19 notification of events form  to report these changes.

Your requirements to notify the NDIS Commission of reportable incidents under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018 are separate from the COVID-19 notification of changes or events and remain unchanged.  

NDIS Commission COVID-19 information and resources

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) information webpage on the NDIS Commission website contains links to updates, training, alerts and other resources.

We also have a COVID-19 webpage containing information for people with disability, and a webpage of frequently asked questions about COVID-19 for all stakeholders.

Contact us

Call: 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines). Our contact centre is open 9.00am to 5.00pm (9.00am to 4.30pm in the NT), Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Email: contactcentre@ndiscommission.gov.au

Website: www.ndiscommission.gov.au