NDS welcomes the Victorian Government $5 million initiative to boost vaccination rates for people with disability. This will see the introduction of 10 dedicated pop-up clinics for people with disability, and priority walk-up access at all State-run vaccination centres.

Currently, around 71 per cent Victorians aged 16 or over with disability have had their first dose of a vaccine. This lags behind the 84 per cent for the general population in Victoria. Some groups of people with disability have very low vaccination rates.

New Victorian Government vaccination support for the disability sector

People with disability will be prioritised at all Victorian state-run vaccination centres from Friday 8 October to access vaccination at any time without a booking. This includes state-run centres with enhanced accessibility, pop-ups, drive-through clinics and a dedicated new low-sensory site at La Trobe University.

Ten dedicated disability vaccination pop-up clinics will operate during October in targeted Local Government Areas.

Sixteen additional disability liaison officers (DLOs) will provide extra assistance for people with disability to access vaccinations. See more information and bookings for disability liaison officers.

Vaccine ambassadors from hearing, autism and other disability partners will be established to promote vaccine uptake and provide case management.

Commonwealth-funded disability vaccination hubs

The Australian Government vaccination program has added vaccination hubs for disability workers, participants, and their carers in Victoria. Healthcare Australia (contracted by the Australian Government) has partnered with disability provider Aruma to provide vaccination at four Aruma sites in Victoria.

These hubs require bookings. The hubs will be available in October for the first vaccination dose and in November for the second dose.

The vaccination hub details are:

Criteria for bookings

To receive vaccinations at Aruma, attendees must be:

• People with a disability (12 year or over)
• Paid or unpaid carers or support staff of someone with a disability
• Workers in the disability sector
• Healthcare workers
• Aged care Workers
• People who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait islanders
• Family members of any of the above categories (including children over 12 years)