A new report from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has found the Department of Health (DOH) to have been deficient in its rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to people with disability.
In its Report, Public hearing 12: The experiences of people with disability, in the context of the Australian Government’s approach to the COVID 19 vaccine rollout, the Royal Commission said DOH’s focus on vaccinating aged care residents against COVID-19 had the effect of deprioritising people with disability, even though both groups were included in Phase 1a of the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Strategy.
The Royal Commission said it accepted three core problems with DOH’s vaccine rollout, which were identified during a public hearing in May and in subsequent written submissions.
“DOH failed to seek advice and guidance from people with disability, disability support workers, disability representative organisations and service providers at critical points in the development of the Strategy and its subsequent rollout,” it said.
“DOH’s lack of transparency in decision-making in effect denied people with disability the information they were entitled to receive.
“There was a failure to provide information in an accessible form to people with disability at risk of serious consequences if they became infected with the virus.”
The Royal Commission acknowledged and said it took into account that DOH confronted novel significant challenges in framing the Strategy and conducting the rollout.
“Nonetheless, the evidence establishes that DOH failed to meet those challenges in important respects,” it said.
“In all the circumstances we prefer to describe DOH’s framing of the Strategy and the conduct of the rollout as seriously deficient.”
The Royal Commission made seven recommendations to DOH aimed at addressing the three core problems identified, including that the Department ensured no State or Territory significantly eased restrictions when vaccination thresholds were reached unless all people with disability appreciated that they had the opportunity to be vaccinated and all active disability support workers were fully vaccinated.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt said Government had accepted six of the Royal Commission’s recommendations, but refuted many findings in its Report, including criticism of the Vaccine Rollout Strategy.
Mr Hunt said the recommendation related to the easing of public health restrictions was not accepted because easing restrictions was the responsibility of State and Territory Governments.
The Royal Commission’s 131-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
