People with disabilities lost trust with vaccine rollout due to serious deficiencies

People with disability lost trust in the federal government after the Department of Health failed to adequately communicate changes to the vaccination rollout to the community, as a damning report found the plan to vaccinate NDIS workers and participants was “seriously deficient”.

In a draft report from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, published on Monday, the commissioners found the federal health department made no genuine attempts to consult with the sector. They also failed to appreciate the unique challenges associated with vaccinating people living in residential disability accommodation.

The disability royal commission said the government did not do enough to consult people with disabilities about access to vaccines.Credit: Chris Hopkins

The commissioners said the department’s lack of transparency, particularly around the pivot away from focusing on people with disability as the department focused on residential aged care, meant those affected could not protest or challenge the changed plan.

That communication failure was “a serious departure from the standards of transparency” to which the government should adhere, the report said, and potentially contributed to vaccine hesitancy.

“Not surprisingly, the failure to communicate the decision in a timely manner caused many people with disability to lose trust and confidence in the Australian government’s handling of the vaccine rollout,” the commissioners said.

“While there were numerous factors leading to vaccine hesitancy in mid-2021, the uncertainty and confusion may have contributed to vaccine hesitancy among some people with disability, including people at greatest risk of serious consequences from COVID-19, and among some disability support workers.”

The Commonwealth said NDIS workers and participants continue to be a priority group for vaccination, and it was considering the report’s 22 findings.

The report comes after the disability royal commission held a special one-day hearing on the vaccination rollout three months into the program, after it emerged that despite being in the 1a category, people with disability were left behind in the national program as the Department of Health pivoted to focusing mainly on residential aged care.

In that May hearing, Counsel assisting the royal commission urged the commissioners to find the federal government’s rollout to people with disability had been “an abject failure”. In the draft report, the commissioners said: “We prefer to describe DOH’s framing of the strategy and the conduct of the rollout as seriously deficient”.

Since June, Operation Covid Shield has worked to accelerate vaccinations for people with disability and workers in the sector, a taskforce spokesman said.

As of September 22, more than 3400 accommodation sites had been visited by in-reach teams, and more than 311 residential accommodation sites across six states and territories will be the focus of the task force’s efforts in the coming weeks.

So far, 66 per cent of people with disability living in shared accommodation have been fully vaccinated, and 57 per cent of NDIS-screened workers have been fully immunised. That compares to 99 per cent of residential aged care workers who are fully vaccinated, and 90 per cent of residents have had at least one dose.

In their recommendations, the commissioners urged the federal government to ensure states and territories only started to open up once all people with disability had the opportunity to be vaccinated, and recommended they be prioritised for vaccines along with support workers.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said that as of September 27, the double-dose vaccination rate among NDIS participants was 14 per cent higher than that of the general population aged 16 and over, which stands at 52 per cent.

“People with disability continue to be prioritised for vaccinations. The government has implemented a range of measures, including visiting more than 4000 sites as part of our in-reach program and the establishment of community-based vaccination hubs specifically for people with disability,” the spokeswoman said.

“The government continually considers all issues raised during the Royal Commission and will formally consider the recommendations and findings once the report is finalised and delivered to the Governor-General, noting it is currently a draft and has not been provided to the government in the usual way.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.