Federal Register of Legislation - Australian Government

Primary content

Principles as made
This instrument amends the Accountability Principles 2014 and Records Principles 2014 to establish requirements for certain residential aged care providers to record and report numbers of service staff vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza.
Administered by: Health
Registered 04 Jun 2021
Tabling HistoryDate
Tabled HR15-Jun-2021
Tabled Senate15-Jun-2021
Date of repeal 23 Dec 2021
Repealed by Division 1 of Part 3 of Chapter 3 of the Legislation Act 2003
Table of contents.

Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia

 

Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Service Staff Vaccination Recording and Reporting) Principles 2021

I, Greg Hunt, Minister for Health and Aged Care, make the following principles.

Dated 3 June 2021

Greg Hunt

Minister for Health and Aged Care

 

  

  


Contents

1............ Name............................................................................................................................. 1

2............ Commencement............................................................................................................. 1

3............ Authority....................................................................................................................... 1

4............ Schedules...................................................................................................................... 1

Schedule 1—Amendments commencing day after registration                                           2

Accountability Principles 2014                                                                                                          2

Records Principles 2014                                                                                                                      3

Schedule 2—Amendments commencing 1 January 2022                                                        5

Accountability Principles 2014                                                                                                          5

 


1  Name

                   This instrument is the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Service Staff Vaccination Recording and Reporting) Principles 2021.

2  Commencement

             (1)  Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

 

Commencement information

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Provisions

Commencement

Date/Details

1.  Sections 1 to 4 and anything in this instrument not elsewhere covered by this table

The day after this instrument is registered.

5 June 2021

2.  Schedule 1

The day after this instrument is registered.

5 June 2021

3.  Schedule 2

1 January 2022.

1 January 2022

Note:          This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

             (2)  Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.

3  Authority

                   This instrument is made under the Aged Care Act 1997.

4  Schedules

                   Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1Amendments commencing day after registration

  

Accountability Principles 2014

1  Section 4

Insert:

multi‑purpose service has the meaning given by section 104 of the Subsidy Principles 2014.

residential care setting has the meaning given by section 4 of the Subsidy Principles 2014.

service staff, in relation to an aged care service, has the meaning given by section 4 of the Quality of Care Principles 2014.

2  At the end of Part 3

Add:

Division 3Information about vaccinations

30B  Purpose of this Division

                   For the purposes of paragraph 63‑1(1)(m) of the Act, this Division specifies the responsibility of an approved provider of certain kinds of aged care services to give a report to the Secretary about the number of service staff in relation to the service who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received certain vaccinations.

30C  Reports about service staff who have received COVID‑19 vaccinations

Residential care services and certain flexible care services

             (1)  An approved provider of:

                     (a)  a residential care service; or

                     (b)  a flexible care service through which short‑term restorative care is provided in a residential care setting;

must, on each reporting day, give the Secretary a report, in a form approved by the Secretary, that sets out the following information:

                     (c)  the total number of service staff in relation to the service;

                     (d)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received a single dose of a COVID‑19 vaccine;

                     (e)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received all required doses of a COVID‑19 vaccine.

Multi‑purpose services

             (2)  An approved provider of a multi‑purpose service must, on each reporting day, give the Secretary a report, in a form approved by the Secretary, that sets out the following information:

                     (a)  the total number of service staff in relation to the service who access, or are reasonably likely to access, any premises where residential care is provided through the service;

                     (b)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received a single dose of a COVID‑19 vaccine;

                     (c)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received all required doses of a COVID‑19 vaccine.

Exceptions

             (3)  However, an approved provider is not required to give the Secretary a report under subsection (1) or (2) on a reporting day after 15 June 2021 if the number of service staff referred to in paragraphs (1)(d) and (e), or paragraphs (2)(b) and (c), (as the case requires) is the same as in the last report given by the approved provider under subsection (1) or (2).

Meaning of reporting day

             (4)  In this section:

reporting day means:

                     (a)  15 June 2021; and

                     (b)  each subsequent Tuesday.

Records Principles 2014

3  Section 4

Insert:

multi‑purpose service has the meaning given by section 104 of the Subsidy Principles 2014.

residential care setting has the meaning given by section 4 of the Subsidy Principles 2014.

short‑term restorative care has the meaning given by section 106A of the Subsidy Principles 2014.

4  Section 10A

Omit “of the number of service staff that receive an influenza vaccination each calendar year”, substitute “, for each calendar year, of the number of service staff in relation to the service who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received the annual seasonal influenza vaccination for that year”.

5  After section 10A

Insert:

10B  Records about service staff—COVID‑19 vaccinations

Residential care services and certain flexible care services

             (1)  An approved provider of:

                     (a)  a residential care service; or

                     (b)  a flexible care service through which short‑term restorative care is provided in a residential care setting;

must keep records of the following information:

                     (c)  the number of service staff in relation to the service who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received a single dose of a COVID‑19 vaccine (whether the dose was received before or after the commencement of this section);

                     (d)  the number of service staff in relation to the service who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received all required doses of a COVID‑19 vaccine (whether the doses were received before or after the commencement of this section).

Multi‑purpose services

             (2)  An approved provider of a multi‑purpose service must keep records of the following information in relation to the service staff in relation to the service who access, or are reasonably likely to access, any premises where residential care is provided through the service:

                     (a)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received a single dose of a COVID‑19 vaccine (whether the dose was received before or after the commencement of this section);

                     (b)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received all required doses of a COVID‑19 vaccine (whether the doses were received before or after the commencement of this section).

Schedule 2Amendments commencing 1 January 2022

  

Accountability Principles 2014

1  Section 30C

Repeal the section, substitute:

30C  Reports about service staff who have received certain vaccinations

Residential care services and certain flexible care services

             (1)  An approved provider of:

                     (a)  a residential care service; or

                     (b)  a flexible care service through which short‑term restorative care is provided in a residential care setting;

must, on each reporting day, give the Secretary a report, in a form approved by the Secretary, that sets out the following information:

                     (c)  the total number of service staff in relation to the service;

                     (d)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received the annual seasonal influenza vaccination for the calendar year that includes the reporting day;

                     (e)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received all required doses of a COVID‑19 vaccine.

Multi‑purpose services

             (2)  An approved provider of a multi‑purpose service must, on each reporting day, give the Secretary a report, in a form approved by the Secretary, that sets out the following information:

                     (a)  the total number of service staff in relation to the service who access, or are reasonably likely to access, any premises where residential care is provided through the service;

                     (b)  the number of those service staff who have voluntarily informed the approved provider that they have received all required doses of a COVID‑19 vaccine.

Meaning of reporting day

             (3)  In this section:

reporting day means:

                     (a)  30 June 2022; and

                     (b)  each subsequent 30 June.