Riverlink Disability Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disability Services are officially an “essential service”. We are working on ensuring that we can continue to provide services, making sure that our participants and staff remain safe and healthy. We are continuously communicating updates to our staff, participants and carers of any changes to our programs and activities following government advice and health and safety measures.

The way we run our services may have changed

We have had to change the way we run some of our services to help keep our participants and staff safe and healthy.  So we are doing things such as:

• Limiting the number of people who come into our facilities and offices.
• Cleaning our facilities and offices more often.
• Making sure participants and staff abide by the social distancing rule, although the NDIS acknowledge that people with disability may need to have close contact with their support workers. However wherever possible, they encourage us to reduce unnecessary touching. 
• The Department of Health has a new online Infection Control course that our staff have all completed.
• Assessing each activity and program to see if it can be delivered while following government advice, health and safety measures and any restrictions in place by the government.

The Prime Minister has stated that these restrictions will be in place for a minimum of 90 days and further restrictions may be required.

The State Government has issued guidelines clarifying when it’s OK to leave the house.

Here’s where you can go to:

• 
Work, if a person can’t work from home
• 
School or an educational institution
• 
Shops for food and other essential items
• 
Get medical care
• 
Exercise, but only if the exercise is done alone or with one other person

Beyond those essential reasons for leaving the home, the Government has provided a list which would “excuse” somebody being outside.

It includes:

• Fleeing an unsafe home, so to avoid injury or illness
• Dealing with an emergency or on compassionate grounds
• Providing care or helping a vulnerable relative/person
• Talking your child to childcare
• Attending a wedding (adhering to the five-person limit) or a funeral (adhering to a 10-person limit)
• Moving house or moving between two places of residences
• Donating blood
• Fulfilling legal obligations
• Accessing to support services such as employment services, mental services etc
• Fulfilling parental sharing arrangements of children (the Government says those conditions shouldn’t change and children can move between homes)
• Going to a place of worship or to provide pastoral care, if you are a priest, minister or member of a religious order.

Programs

We understand that this is a difficult time for everyone, please email info@riverlink.org.au or call Riverlink 02 9638 0999 if we can help in any way.

Be Safe.

Kind regards

Beulah Lennane

Chief Executive Officer