COVID-19 Vaccination reporting requirements extended for residential and home care providers

Published 20th July 2021

The Australian Government has introduced new COVID-19 vaccination reporting requirements for residential and in-home aged care providers.

The expanded reporting is necessary to identify the potential level of risk each aged care service faces in the context of a COVID-19 outbreak in residential, in-home and community settings. It will inform how those services, residents and workers can best be supported.

While the new reporting requirements start on 27 July 2021, all providers are encouraged to start reporting voluntarily now.

Details of the reporting requirements on COVID-19 vaccination for aged care providers is available on the Department’s website -  Reporting requirements on the COVID-19 vaccination status of aged care workforce.

Changes to residential aged care reporting
Starting on 27 July 2021, it will become a formal requirement for residential aged care providers to report weekly on the COVID-19 vaccination status of residents through the online My Aged Care provider portal. This is in addition to the current reporting on workforce vaccination.

The tool records de-identified data on the:

• total number of residents and workers at each aged care service and, of those,
• the number of residents and workers who have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
• the number of residents and workers who have received all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The purpose of the new reporting requirement is to provide greater health security for residents in their care.

It is especially important for all residential aged care facilities to report weekly on the COVID-19 vaccination status of new residents to ensure ongoing vaccine access for this vulnerable group of senior Australians.

The following fact sheets are available to support providers, residents and workers:

• Guidance for residential aged care providers on reporting resident and workforce COVID-19 vaccinations
• Information for residents on COVID-19
• Information for residential aged care workers

New reporting requirements extended to home care providers
Starting on 27 July 2021, in-home aged care providers must report weekly through the online My Aged Care provider portal on the COVID-19 vaccination status of their workforce, including contractors and volunteers. This includes providers of Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care services in an in-home or community setting.

The tool records de-identified data on the:

• total number of workers at each aged care service and, of those,
• the number of workers who have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
• the number of workers who have received all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
• The following fact sheets are available to support providers, residents and workers:

The following fact sheets are available to support providers and workers:

• Guidance for in-home and community aged care providers on reporting of COVID-19 vaccinations of the workforce
• Information for in-home and community aged care workers

For CHSP and NATSIFAC service providers
Record keeping and reporting on workforce COVID-19 vaccination is being deferred for Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFAC) services in home and community settings.

This is to ensure CHSP and NATSIFAC services can receive guidance and support from the Department of Health on the systems, processes and capacity-building they may need in order to meet the record keeping and reporting requirements, before they are introduced.

Further information will be coming out shortly for CHSP and NATSIFAC providers.

Source:
Unknown Author, 2021, Department of Health (https://www.health.gov.au/)