7 December 2021

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccines: COVID-19 vaccination in-reach booster program

The Australian Government Department of Health (Department of Health) has commenced the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination booster in-reach program to eligible group residential accommodation providers. Eligible providers are strongly encouraged to participate in the booster rollout program and support the right of people with disability to access a COVID-19 vaccine.

Key points

• The Department of Health has commenced the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination booster in-reach program to eligible group residential accommodation settings.
• People with disability living in group or shared residential accommodation are eligible for a booster dose if they have completed their primary course of a COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago.
• Eligible group residential accommodation providers will be contacted by a Commonwealth vaccination provider to organise booster doses.
• Refer to the Department of Health website for more information regarding COVID-19 vaccine boosters.
• Information and support to access COVID-19 vaccinations including boosters should be facilitated, to both NDIS participants and workers.

Booster doses

People with disability living in shared group residential accommodation and disability support workers are among those eligible for a booster dose, if they have completed their primary course of a COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago.

Booster doses are available through Commonwealth vaccination providers and other channels such as a GP, pharmacy, or state or territory vaccination clinic.

Third doses and boosters

Booster vaccinations are different to a third dose. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has recommended only people who are severely immunocompromised should receive a third dose.

Residents or workers who have been assessed by a GP as requiring a third dose because they are severely immunocompromised should receive a third dose as soon as possible.

ATAGI has not issued advice on whether or not people who need a third dose will need a booster.

For more information, visit the COVID-19 booster vaccine advice on the Department of Health website.

Booster in-reach program

Providers that received in-reach support for primary course doses are eligible for the booster in-reach program, and will be contacted directly by a Commonwealth vaccination provider to organise booster doses.

If your group residential accommodation setting received primary course doses through another channel but requires in-reach for the booster or any remaining initial doses, you can request support by:

1. Emailing DisabilityCovidVaccineDelivery@health.gov.au
2. Include the subject line: 'Request for in-reach vaccination for disability residential setting'.
3. Provide details for a nominated contact point at the residential care setting for Health to contact.

Disability support workers in your organisation will also be able to receive their booster dose in the same visit. This will need to be discussed with the vaccination provider.

NDIS providers will need to obtain new consent from participant’s and support workers participating in the booster in-reach program.

A provider update issued on 3 December 2021 by the NDIA contains additional information to support your preparations for a visit from the booster in-reach service.

The NDIS Commission strongly encourages eligible providers to engage with the booster in-reach rollout program and take the necessary steps to prepare.

We also recognise that some providers and participants may have made alternate arrangements to access boosters through other locally available channels.  It is the NDIS Commission’s expectation that providers take all necessary steps to ensure participants are supported to access a COVID-19 booster vaccine through the in-reach program or alternate pathways.

Promoting access to COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters

Supporting NDIS participants to access COVID-19 vaccinations

All NDIS participants aged 12 years and over are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants are also eligible for a booster dose if they have completed their primary course of a COVID-19 vaccination at least six months ago.  

The Acting Commissioner has published a statement about the right of people with disability to make their own decision about COVID-19 vaccination, and the role of NDIS providers and workers in supporting participants. This was sent to registered providers on 5 November 2021. 

Providers should take all steps to assist participants that they support to access the vaccination where they need assistance to do so, including boosters. Further information is available on the Department of Health website, including Easy Read and Auslan resources.

Our provider alert of 9 June 2021 contained resources to help you to support participants 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 Department of Health has published a COVID-19 vaccination consent form in easy read format.

To assist people with disability to learn more about COVID-19 booster doses, the Department of Health has also developed the following easy read resources:

• Fact sheet about the third dose
• Fact sheet about the booster dose
• Fact sheet about the difference between the third dose and a booster dose.

Vaccination advice and information for disability workers

All states and territories have issued public health orders or directions (with mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for workers, including disability workers):

• Victoria
• Northern Territory
• New South Wales
• Western Australia
• Australian Capital Territory
• Tasmania
• South Australia
• Queensland

Providers are strongly encouraged to check the details of the public health orders in the states or territories in which they operate and any requirements for providers in respect of the vaccination status of disability workers.

Our 22 November 2021 provider alert was sent to NDIS providers that are registered to deliver intensive support services to NDIS participants. It contained details about a request for information under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 regarding the COVID-19 vaccination status of workers. It is a condition of registration that registered providers comply with such a notice under the NDIS Act and providers are strongly encouraged to take any necessary steps in preparation for complying with the notice.

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.

NDIS Commission COVID-19 vaccine information and resources

The COVID-19 vaccine information webpage on our website contains links to updates about COVID-19 vaccines and resources for NDIS providers.

We also have a COVID-19 vaccine webpage containing information for people with disability.