Automatic language translation
Our website uses an automatic service to translate our content into different languages. These translations should be used as a guide only. See our Accessibility page for further information.
Make sure you read the COVID-19 management and vaccination policy for DCJ service providers (the policy).
The policy applies to organisations who are funded to provide services on behalf of DCJ. It’s part of your contractual obligations.
It also applies to registered community housing providers that receive assistance from DCJ via a community housing agreement.
It doesn’t apply to you if you only receive grant(s) from DCJ.
The policy covers this in detail. In short, you’ll need to:
You need to complete your plan, including risk assessments, by 22 December 2021.
We’ll email you and ask you to confirm that you’ve completed your COVID-19 management plan. You don’t have to lodge your plan with us.
We’ll email service providers in January 2022 to confirm your management plans have been completed. You’ll need to respond within 1 week.
Under the Agreement you signed with DCJ, you must comply with notified policies issued by DCJ. The COVID-19 management and vaccination policy is a notified policy.
You’ll be in breach of your Agreement with DCJ if you don’t have a management plan in place by 22 December 2021.
Talk to your contract manager if you didn’t meet the 22 December 2021 deadline.
We developed sector support guidance material and optional templates to help you to undertake the risk assessment and develop your COVID-19 management plan. We developed these in partnership with peak organisations.
We also asked Rebbeck and Justice Connect to host webinars to help you develop your COVID-19 management plan. You can watch the recordings. We’re sharing the risk assessment tools DCJ used for its own risk assessments. These are on the website.
Some peak organisations also developed tools and resources. NCOSS developed a COVID-19 vax risk assessment toolkit.
You don’t have to use a prescribed template for your risk assessment or your COVID-19 management plan.
The plan must be reviewed and updated regularly. Given the changing nature of the pandemic, you should update your plan if new risks emerge or public health advice changes. You should also schedule regular reviews. Section 6.3 of the policy tells you what you need to do to update your plan.
You should already have completed a lot of the work that makes up the COVID-19 management plan, including a business or service continuity plan. You would also have completed a NSW Government COVID Safety plan in 2020 and 2021, which you can choose to include in your COVID-19 management plan.
If you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to do a risk assessment for each service setting, and a plan to respond to each risk in day-to-day business.
You can decide if it’s best for your organisation to have one overarching COVID-19 management plan with multiple risk assessments, or smaller management plans for different programs or funding streams (for example within DCJ or funding from other agencies) service settings or worksites.
You’ll need to do a risk assessment for each service setting, and a plan to respond to each risk in day-to-day business. You can decide if it’s best for your organisation to have one overarching plan with multiple risk assessments, or smaller plans for different sites.
Some service providers are required by a Public Health Order the have a NSW Government COVID Safety plan. If you have one, it forms part of your COVID-19 management plan.
Before 15 December 2021, every organisation needed to have a NSW Government COVID Safety plan. You may still have one in place. While they’re optional for a lot of organisations now, we still encourage you to include, or develop, a COVID Safety plan as part of your COVID-19 management plan.
Section 6 of the policy outlines everything your plan needs to include.
Use the COVID Safety plan(s) that best applies to your service setting or use the general plan. For example, if you operate a community hall, you could use the gyms and indoor recreation COVID-19 Safety plan.
The NSW Government is making COVID-19 Safety Plans optional for businesses and organisations from 15 December 2021.
While no longer a requirement, we encourage you have COVID-19 Safety Plans in place as part of your COVID management plan, as informed by risk assessment.
The Public Health (COVID-19 Care Services) Order 2021 (updated 25 February 2022) means that workers who provide services to people with disability must be appropriately vaccinated.
Appropriately vaccinated means that the worker must have received 3 doses of an approved vaccine. The due date for a worker’s booster vaccine is 13 weeks after they received their second dose. Workers will still be considered appropriately vaccinated if they’ve received 2 doses of an approved vaccine and it’s before 12 April 2022, or if it’s 6 weeks from the due date for their third dose, whichever is later.
NSW Health has published FAQs in relation to this Public Health Order. Always refer to the Public Health Order for the current vaccination requirements.
If you have workers with disability and they are at greater risk from COVID-19, this must be considered in your risk assessment and addressed in your risk control measures.
If people with disability have a medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine, see the FAQ question “what if a worker can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons?”
No. Foster carer and relative/kin carers are not considered ‘workers’ under the policy.
On 15 December 2021, the NSW Government eased restrictions on density limits, face masks, QR codes and proof of vaccination to enter premises.
Some restrictions on face masks and QR codes were brought back on 23 December 2021.
Regardless of Public Health Orders, you can still choose make it a condition of entry to your premises that people wear face masks in your COVID-19 management plan. NSW Health advises people to get vaccinated, and wear a face mask where they cannot socially distance.
You can still ask people about their vaccination status if it’s in your COVID-19 management plan. See also the question Do services need to ask clients or other people, for example contractors, if they are vaccinated when they enter its premises? in this FAQ for more advice.
You still need to use a QR code for staff and visitors residential facilities and hostels. Residents don’t need to check in.
25 Mar 2024