The experiences of people with disability, in the context of the Australian Government’s approach to the COVID 19 vaccine rollout.
The is the title of a report by the Disability Royal Commission published in September 2021.
Follow this link to read and download the report
Australian Federation of Disability Organisations summarised the report’s findings:
The report found that despite disability care residents being one of the most vulnerable groups, the Government focused on aged-care residents. The change had the effect of de-prioritising people with disability for vaccines.
The Government:
- failed to consult people with disability, disability support workers and disability representative organisations (DRO) at critical points of the strategy and rollout.
- lacked transparency in decision making, denying people with disability the information they were entitled to receive.
- did not provide information in an accessible form to people with disability at serious risk of consequence if they became infected with COVID, contributing to many people losing trust in the Government’s handling of the vaccine rollout.
- didn’t appreciate or address the challenges associated with administering the vaccine to people living in disability residential settings and disability support workers in those settings.