Residential Aged Care COVID-19 Employee Vaccination Support Grant

The Residential Aged Care Employee Support Grant seeks to support the Residential Aged Care Sector in ensuring that all staff within a residential aged care facility are able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine whilst minimising the financial impact on the residential aged care provider and the individual employee.

The program will contribute towards costs incurred by eligible residential aged care providers (Providers) supplying or facilitating COVID-19 vaccinations for staff. Providers can apply for financial support in any or all of the following three categories:

• Category 1: payment for each casual staff member’s off-site vaccination (maximum of 2 doses/payments per casual staff member). This payment is a contribution towards the time casual staff are absent from the facility to receive their COVID-19 vaccination at an off-site vaccination clinic; and/or
• Category 2: one day of paid leave for casual staff (not eligible for entitlements) receiving an on or off-site vaccination, who were rostered on for a shift within 24 - 48 hrs after receiving a vaccination, but suffered side effects from the vaccination and were unable to attend work for this reason; and/or
• Category 3: facilitation of either on or off-site vaccinations for all staff (e.g. transport costs or arranging for groups of staff to be vaccinated off-site).

Providers must ensure payments received under categories one and two are provided to casual staff members in full.
Eligible staff members include:

• Categories 1, 2 and 3: casual staff for whom the residential aged care facility is their primary place of work in the aged care sector and have been rostered on in the preceding four weeks, unless they were on annual or sick leave.
• Category 3: all staff directly employed by the Provider.

The financial support available is dependent on the category as follows:

• Category 1 - A payment per dose for each casual staff member’s off-site vaccination (maximum of 2 doses/payments per casual staff member)- $80.00
• Category 2 - One day of paid leave per casual staff member suffering from side effects following a COVID-19 vaccination - $185.00
• Category 3 - A payment per residential aged care facility to facilitate staff vaccinations (either on or off-site) - $500.00