Staff must receive their first dose by 1 November 2021, and their second dose by 29 November 2021.

This decision brings vaccination requirements for disability support workers in line with those for staff in residential aged-care facilities, hospitals, schools and early childhood education and care settings.

This requirement will apply to everyone who is engaged to work in these sectors and perform these duties, whether fulltime, part-time, casually or on a voluntary basis.

Clear guidelines about the staff classifications included in the mandate will be incorporated into the Public Health Direction which is expected to be issued this week.

In other welcome news, eligible NDIS providers in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Western Australia (WA) will join those in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Victoria in being able to claim a one-off payment from the NDIA for support workers to receive their COVID-19 vaccination.

The payment, of $100 per worker per dose, can be claimed directly from the NDIA retrospectively for any vaccinations that a worker has received since 20 October.