Any worker in healthcare who enters, works in, or performs services in a healthcare setting must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Workers at residential aged care facilities must have received their booster COVID-19 vaccination if eligible for it and continue to receive booster doses as recommended.
These measures are in place to protect Queenslanders in health, disability and aged care settings, and the broader community.
Workers in healthcare
A worker in healthcare for the purposes of vaccination includes:
other allied health service providers whose services are eligible for a Medicare or private health insurance rebate
workers in disability accommodation settings
contractors or independent third-party providers of services or supplies
all other individuals who work in healthcare, including an agency nurse engaged for relief work in a specialist outpatient service
other healthcare, support services and personal care
disability support and mental health services
kitchen staff, gardeners, home maintenance workers and cleaners in a healthcare setting, including aged care or disability accommodation
volunteers who assist visitors to a healthcare setting, including volunteers engaged by Health Consumers Queensland, providing face to face advice and support services across the health system in Queensland
exercise physiologists providing healthcare services in a gym
an employee of a community pharmacy
chaplains visiting patients in a hospital or other healthcare setting
teachers in a hospital or other healthcare setting
hospital Clown Doctors
florist or coffee shop employees in a healthcare setting
Support worker providing services in supported independent living
NDIS funded allied health professional providing in person support for an NDIS participant's wellbeing (whether a registered or unregistered NDIS provider)
Non NDIS support person that provides in home assistance to a person in residential aged care.
Corrective Services Officers who escort prisoners to correctional health facilities are not included as healthcare workers but are still required to be vaccinated .
Commonwealth-funded residential aged care facilities and contractors in Queensland must also comply with these requirements.
Health service employees
Health service employees are any Queensland Health employees employed under the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 in Hospital and Health Services and the Department of Health.
For Queensland Health aged care facilities, this means anyone who is directly employed by Queensland Health, including but not limited to:
health care providers
assistant nurses
enrolled nurses
registered nurses
doctors
allied health practitioners
administration and support staff.
It does not include paramedics, contractors or service providers not employed by Queensland Health.
Non-healthcare workers in healthcare settings
If a worker or volunteer such as office administration staff, board members and executives are located in a setting where healthcare services are delivered, they need to be vaccinated. If they work or volunteer in a corporate head office or other non-client facing environment, they do not need to be vaccinated but are encouraged to do so (e.g. call centre staff who are not located at a hospital or other premises that provides health services).
Healthcare facilities and settings
A healthcare facility or setting is any premises where healthcare is provided.
Examples of a healthcare setting include:
public hospitals, public health clinics, ambulance services, patient transport services, and other health services
private health facilities, such as private hospitals or day procedure centres or specialist outpatient services
residential aged care facilities
shared disability accommodation services
private provider facilities, such as general practitioners, private nurse offices and allied health consulting offices, pharmacies, optometrists, dental surgeries and private pathology centres
not for profit health organisations providing public healthcare under a service agreement with any State or Commonwealth agency, including an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Service
Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) delivering healthcare services, for example Alcohol and other Drugs residential rehabilitation and treatment services, hospital and other public healthcare services on a Hospital and Health Service campus, such as integrated mental health Step-Up Step-Down models
education settings within a healthcare setting
outreach services in other health settings provided by public, private, residential aged care or shared disability accommodation facilities, including in-home healthcare services
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood collection centres
in home delivery of disability support services
aged care services funded by the Australian Government and delivered in the home
school based healthcare, including in special schools
healthcare services provided in other settings such as gyms
in homes where disability support services in the home are delivered
aged care services funded by the Australian Government and delivered to a client or patient in their home.
Vaccination requirements
Any healthcare worker, regardless of their level of contact, who enters, works in, or provides services in a healthcare setting must be fully vaccinated.
Residential aged care
A worker must not enter, work in, or provide services at a residential aged care facility unless their vaccination status is up-to-date, with limited exceptions.
An up-to-date vaccination status means a person who has received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose 3 to 6 months after being fully vaccinated, and continues to receive booster doses as recommended.
Residential aged care workers are:
employees
contractors or agency staff
health service employees and people engaged by Queensland Health
medical practitioners and allied health professionals, including paramedics and emergency services staff who regularly attend and provides care to residents whether employed or engaged by the resident, residential aged care facility or another person.
This doesn’t apply to volunteers who are not engaged by the residential aged care facility (e.g. community visitors providing companionship to a resident at the request of the resident).
Employer obligations
An employer who provides staff or services to a residential aged care facility must:
keep a record of the COVID-19 vaccination status of each employee
provide an undertaking that employees have an up-to-date vaccination status to the operator of the residential aged care facility
An operator of a residential aged care facility must:
take all reasonable steps to facilitate access to the COVID-19 vaccine for workers, including access to off-site vaccination
develop a Workforce Management Plan that:
requires workers, contractors, volunteers and students to notify a residential aged care facility of their additional place of employment, if relevant; and if they become aware of a COVID-19 case identified at the other workplace
identifies how workforce surge requirements will be met if there is a COVID-19 event at the facility
specifies the operator must notify the local Health Emergency Operations Centre of a critical workforce shortage
take reasonable steps to ensure workers, contractors who have contact with residents, volunteers and students undertake face-to-face infection control and personal protective equipment training
ensure an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) is available to respond to a confirmed case.
The operator should ensure, to the extent possible, that employees, contractors, volunteers and students do not work across multiple care facilities.
An unvaccinated person may continue to provide healthcare services from their home or another location via telehealth and have no face-to-face contact with clients or patients.
Providing evidence of vaccination
You should provide evidence of meeting the vaccination requirements as soon as reasonably possible after each dose you receive of a COVID-19 vaccine to your employer, and any other nominated responsible person for keeping records of COVID-19 vaccination for workers at the healthcare facility.
Any employer that employs, contracts or otherwise engages a worker at a healthcare setting should inform the worker of the COVID-19 vaccination requirements and must:
take all reasonable steps to ensure that the worker does not work or provide services at a healthcare facility if they have not met the vaccination requirements (or the PPE and COVID-19 testing requirements if they are unable to be vaccinated and the employer allows them to continue working)
keep a record of COVID-19 vaccine information reported to them by their workers in a healthcare setting and store it securely.
Training for workers
Residential aged care operators must take reasonable steps to ensure all employees, contractors who have contact with residents, volunteers and students of residential aged care facilities undergo face-to-face infection control and personal protective equipment training.
Some components of the training may be delivered by the trainer virtually.
The training must be conducted by:
a person who has specialist infection control experience
a person qualified to provide education/training who has experience in providing education/training about infection control and personal protective equipment
a registered nurse or other health practitioner who has experience in providing education sessions
a registered nurse who has completed an infection control and personal protective equipment train-the-trainer session led by a registered nurse or other health practitioner who has specialist infection control experience or experience in providing education sessions.
The training must include a competency assessment of donning and doffing personal protective equipment.
Responsible person
A responsible person for a healthcare setting means the person legally responsible for employing or engaging healthcare workers and for monitoring their access to those locations.
A responsible person can be a:
licensee
operator
chief executive
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider or their delegate in a healthcare setting.
A responsible person is not a:
support co-ordinator
NDIS plan manager
self-managing NDIS participant, where the self-managing NDIS participant does not directly employ a worker in healthcare.
If the responsible person is not the employer, they must still take responsibility in notifying the employers of the healthcare workers of the COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
A responsible person must keep a record, either locally or centrally, of COVID-19 vaccination compliance reported by a worker in healthcare or their employer. The information must be stored in a secure database that is accessible to authorised persons only and maintained in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 and the Public Records Act 2002.
An emergency officer can require a responsible person, a healthcare worker or a healthcare worker’s employer to comply with additional directions if the officer believes the direction is reasonably necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
