COVID-19 support
On this page:
- COVID-19 safe behaviours
- What to do if you get COVID-19?
- COVID-19 and mental health
- COVID-19 stakeholder kit for disability service providers
- COVID-19 leave grant for disability workforce
COVID-19 safe behaviours
To keep you and your community safe, whether you have been vaccinated or not, you should continue to:
- Keep a big space between you and other people
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water often
- Stay home if you feel sick
- Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow
- Make sure you have good airflow indoors. See further guidance on ventilation and COVID-19.
- Have an emergency plan for COVID-19. Here is a guide to help you make your own plan Person Centred Emergency Preparedness Plan.
- A mask can help keep you safe from Coronavirus. See this Easy Read guide on wearing masks during Coronavirus.
- There are also Government videos here including those showing COVID-19 Safe Behaviours.
Testing
You should get tested for COVID-19 if:
- you have symptoms of the illness — even if your symptoms are mild
- you have recovered from COVID-19 and develop new symptoms of COVID-19 after 28 days since you completed isolation
- you have been advised to do so by a health professional.
Find out more about COVID-19 tests. Watch a video on Rapid Antigen Tests.
If you’re at higher risk of severe illness, have COVID-19 symptoms and test negative on a RAT (Rapid Antigen Test), get a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test.
Occasionally, a RAT may not detect a COVID-19 infection straight away, so it’s important to get a PCR at a state or territory testing site. The Easy Reads below give more information on taking a RAT test.
- How to do a rapid antigen test with your saliva – Easy Read
- How to do a rapid antigen test from your nose – Easy Read
Masks
Wearing a mask can help protect you and those around you. To use a mask properly you should:
- wash or sanitise your hands before putting it on or taking it off
- make sure it covers your nose and mouth and fits snugly under your chin
- avoid touching the front of your mask while wearing or removing it
- keep it in place – don't hang it around your neck or under your nose
- use a new single use mask each time
- wash and dry reusable masks after use and store in a clean dry place.
Click here to access an Easy Read for mask wearing.
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Personal protective equipment protects the wearer from infection and stops the spread of COVID-19.
The Department of Health and Aged Care has information available to help you find out who should use PPE, how to use it, and how to supply, if needed, is managed through the National Medical Stockpile.
For further information on supports available through the NDIS take a look at your health and safety.
What to do if you get COVID-19?
- You can call your doctor or medical centre if you get COVID-19
- Some people get a little sick when they get COVID-19 and some may get very sick if they get COVID-19.
- Read more about what to do if you get COVID-19
- You can also read the Easy Read on What to do if someone you live with has COVID-19
- You might be able to take the COVID-19 medicine if you get COVID-19, read more about your eligibility for oral anti-viral COVID-19 treatments.
COVID-19 and mental health
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing and isolation may cause feelings of anxiousness, stress and worry.
Mental health support is available for all Australians. Read more about receiving mental health sessions during COVID-19
Visit the Department of Health and Aged Care website to learn more about mental health support services available.
You can also access tips to help mental health from the Council for Intellectual Disability, Mental health resources and other supports – Down Syndrome Australia and Beyond Blue.
COVID-19 stakeholder kit for disability service providers
This stakeholder kit provides information and resources for organisations delivering services to people with disability. It will assist in communicating the importance of preventative behaviours in reducing the risks posed by COVID-19.
COVID-19 Disability Stakeholder Kit for 2023-24: Supporting people with disability
Ventilation fact sheet for disability providers
The ventilation fact sheet aims to provide high-level advice to Disability Providers that link them in a single factsheet to other areas of truth for further information.
Disability workers and vaccination
States and territories have different COVID-19 vaccination requirements for disability support workers. Follow the links below for details. Information for disability workers about COVID-19 vaccines
Information for NDIS Providers and participants. Visit the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Information and support for disability support workers and providers. Visit the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
COVID-19 leave grant for disability workers
Disability workers who deliver close personal support to NDIS participants, contract COVID-19 and have no or insufficient sick leave are eligible for financial assistance through their employer.
Available funding will be at a flat rate of $450 per worker where the worker has lost at least eight hours but less than 20 hours of work, and $750 per worker where the worker has lost more than 20 hours of work.
The payment will provide support towards the costs associated with leave from 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023.
The worker will need proof of their COVID-19 infection ‒ proof of registering positive case with relevant state or territory, or a medical certificate, or a date stamped photo of positive RAT or PCR result, or a statutory declaration.
More information about this grant is available at www.dss.gov.au/covidleavegrant
