Community services play a crucial role in looking after our community. WACOSS are working together with our members, other WA human service peak bodies and the WA Government to ensure you have access to the latest trusted information and resources.
This page provides general health advice and links to resources that community service organisations may find useful. For the latest WA Government information and advice, visit wa.gov.au/government/coronavirus-covid-19.
If you suspect you may have COVID-19, call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080.
This page contains a lot of information relating to COVID-19 and the evolving situation we have all found ourselves in since the beginning of 2020. If you are looking for specific information, please use the search function below with a keyword e.g. “vaccinations”.
On Friday 4 November 2022 the State of Emergency for Western Australia ended, and at the same time the Public Health State of Emergency, under the Public Health Act 2016, was revoked.
As part of the end of the State of Emergency, the Incident Controller of the State Health Incident Coordination Centre (SHICC) formally approved the deactivation of the State Support Plan – Emergency Welfare (Interim) and the standing down of the State Welfare Incident Coordination Centre (SWICC).
Basic public health advice such as mask wearing as needed, staying home if unwell, getting tested and avoiding high-risk settings until symptoms have cleared are still highly recommended, and the State Government has suggested that these measures can be adopted as a requirement through businesses’ own policies and work health and safety arrangements.
From Friday 10 June 2022 WA’s mandatory vaccination policy will only apply to certain workforces. This update is in line with health advice and will only apply to workforces working with the most vulnerable to protect them from severe disease. As of Friday 10 June, the following sectors must be triple dose vaccinated to be able to enter their workplace:
Read the Mandatory Vaccination Policy online.
Mask wearing, proof of vaccination and visitor limits in certain settings will remain and continue to be monitored by the Chief Health Officer, as well as location and testing requirements for positive cases and close contacts.
Information on workplaces and employers requiring mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations is available on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.
FWO states that employers can only require their employees to be vaccinated where:
The Direction has been published online by the WA Department of Health and is available here Disability Support Accommodation Worker (Restrictions On Access) Directions (www.wa.gov.au).
The Department of Communities are providing RATs and PPE/C to assist organisations in the community services sector continue to provide services to the public.
You can request RATs and PPE (surgical masks, N95 masks and cloth masks) through the Department’s online COVID PPE/C and RAT Request Form.
If you have any queries or concerns about the recent announcements from the Department of Communities about the provision of RATs and PPE to the sector, please email the COVID-19 Management Incident Team (COMIT) with DoC: [email protected]
We have streamlined this page and any relevant information has now been archived via the links below.
Access the latest COVID-19 vaccination resources from the Department of Health including posters, videos, infographics and more.
All of the assets available below are free to use and can be downloaded and distributed widely throughout your networks. We encourage members and other community service sector organisations to utilise these resources and share with your staff and the wider community.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, WACOSS has regularly shared information relevant to the community care services sector via our fortnightly newsletter, and via special COVID-19 updates. You can find previous updates below:
WACOSS was funded to develop, implement, and facilitate the CSSP initiative. The CSSP was introduced to mitigate services disruptions in the Community Sector due to furloughing of staff, as it has impacted the eastern states at the peak of the Omicron wave.
The CSSP will allow organisations who have sufficient staff capacity to second to an organisation at risk of service disruption, so that their critical work supporting vulnerable people can continue, even if WA is faced with high COVID-19 cases.
Organisations who have capacity to share staff are encouraged to visit our website and register their willingness to contribute to the Surge Pool, and for organisations experiencing furloughing of staff due to COVID-19 to complete a Surge Request so that we can try to find a suitable match.
For more information and to register or request a surge workforce, please click the button below to go to our CSSP page
As part of WACOSS’s recent advocacy efforts, we have secured $1million in funding from the West Australian State Government to cover additional cleaning costs incurred by community service organisations due to interaction with COVID-19 positive cases. This funding is available on a reimbursement basis for any not-for-profit community service that holds a WA Government contract providing services to vulnerable community members.
For more information and to apply please click the button below to go to our cleaning reimbursement scheme page.
