News | 6 March 2020

Information for NDIS participants and families about the Coronavirus

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computer generated image of COVID-19 - a big grey round ball with triangular red spikes popping out if it.

We’re bringing together all of the information we have as it comes out for people with disability and families about the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Skip to section:

📌 NDIS

📌 Government services

📌 Easy Read, social stories, communication boards and Key Word Signs

📌 Other visual resources

📌 Languages other than English

📌 Other helpful websites

📌 Support, mental health and wellbeing

📌 Providers and workers

📌 General information about coronavirus

 


 

Information about coronavirus – or COVID-19 is changing every day – and information can be hard to find.

With everything that is going on, no one has time to go hunting for what they need.

We’ve collected lots of information for people with disability, their families and carers and popped it in one place. We’ll be updating it daily to make sure our Every Australian Counts community has the very latest info at hand.

We have also collected other helpful resources and tools from around the web – everything from Easy Read resources for people with an intellectual disability to videos to fact sheets.

Make sure you check out our FAQ page as well, and our news section. And if the answers aren’t there send us your question and we will get an answer as soon as we can.

And just in case you missed it – here are a couple of the big hotlines during this time if you need more help:

 

Disability Information Helpline – 1800 643 787

Monday to Friday 8 am to 8 pm (AEST) and Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 7 pm (AEST) – not open on public holidays.

NDIS Coronavirus hotline – 1800 800 110 then press 5

There are special teams of NDIA staff available to answer your questions and help with your plan if you press 5 after calling the NDIS contact centre. Open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm (local time).

National Coronavirus hotline – 1800 020 080

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

More hotlines and support services

 


National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

 

NDIS

NDIS' Coronavirus information and support landing page

UPDATE: Coronavirus information on the NDIS website has moved to a new Coronavirus (COVID-19) information and support section, instead of the disaster response page as of March 27, with lots of new questions and answers about recent changes.

 

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Screenshot of the Coronavirus page on the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission website

NDIS Commission coronavirus (COVID-19) information

 

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Government services

 

Disability Information Helpline

Icons of chat boxes, a telephone and email

Do you have a question about Coronavirus (COVID-19)? Do you need help because things have changed? Is something worrying you?

Contact the Disability Information Helpline on 1800 643 787.

The Helpline is available Monday to Friday 8 am to 8 pm (AEST) and Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 7 pm (AEST). It’s not available on public holidays.

The helpline can give you helpful information. They can also refer you to a disability advocate or a free counselling service if you would like some more support.

 

Services Australia (Centrelink)

Services Australia logo

Information for people affected by coronavirus (COVID-19)

 

Economic Justice Australia

COVID-19 and Centrelink cover

 

Department of Social Services

Logo - Australian Government Department of Social Services

Information and referrals for people with disability and their supporters about coronavirus (COVID-19)

 

Australian Government

Screenshot of the australia . gov . au website from a mobile device

www.australia.gov.au

There is a “Coronavirus Australia” government app in the Apple App Store and Google Play, and a WhatsApp channel on iOS or Android.

Update: New COVID-19 Home Medicines Service

 

Department of Health

Screenshot of the Department of Health website homepage from a mobile device

Coronavirus Helpline – 1800 020 080

Coronavirus health alert

Coronavirus (COVID-19) resources

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Easy Read, social stories, communication boards and Key Word Signs

 

National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIS)

NDIS response to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Helping our participants stay safe and well Easy Read version

UPDATED: Easy Read – Coronavirus (COVID-19) information (PDF 3MB)

 

Down Syndrome Australia

Screenshot of the first page of Down Syndrome Australia's Easy Read Coronavirus booklet

Coronavirus information and Down syndrome page

Easy read guide to Coronavirus – What is Coronavirus? What can I do to stay safe? Where can I get more information and help?

 

The Growing Space

Screenshot of page 1 of the Easy English Coronavirus guide from The Growing Space

Easy Read information sheet on the Coronavirus

 

Council for Intellectual Disability (CID)

Screenshot of page 1 of the CID Easy English guide to staying safe from coronavirus

COVID-19

 

Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN)

QDN Easy Read cover - What does self-quarantine mean?

Information about Coronavirus (COVID-19)

  • Easy Read – What is Coronavirus (COVID-19)? PDF or Word
  • Easy Read – What does Self-quarantine Mean? PDF or Word
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Essential Items Checklist PDF or Word

 

Women With Disabilities Australia

Front page of WWDA Easy Read Coronavirus booklet

About Coronavirus. Also called COVID – 19 (Word)

 

Access Easy English

Access Easy English poster - New rule - we need space between us

 

Department of Social Services

Page 1 of the DSS easy read called Coronavirus: 5 things to do right now

COVID-19 Information and support for people with disability and carers

 

Key Word Signs Australia

Coronavirus information for people who use Key Word Signs

 

The Autism Educator

Screenshot of the first two pages of the Coronavirus social story

Coronavirus social story

 

The Autism Partnership of Easterseals Chicago

Screenshot of page 10 of the The Autism Partnership of Easterseals Chicago Coronavirus social story

Coronavirus Social Story

 

Two Way Street

COVID 19 Communication board

Talking to kids about Coronavirus and COVID-19 chat board

 

Photosymbols

Easy Read poster: Coronavirus What if you get ill?  Easy Read poster: Coronavirus and health issues Easy Read poster: Coronavirus How to stay safe

Easy read posters

 

Scottish Commission for Learning Disability

Five booklet covers from the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability

COVID-19 Guided Self-help Booklet Series

  • Introduction
  • Coping with feeling down
  • Getting a good night’s sleep
  • Being active and staying well
  • Solving problems
  • Coping with anxiety
  • Relaxing

 

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Other visual resources

 

Speak Out Tasmania

Coronavirus How to Stay Safe and Keep Others Safe

 

Council for Intellectual Disability (CID)

Stay home stay busy during Coronavirus

Stay safe at the shop

 

MINDHEART

Screenshot of the front page of the COVIBOOK.

#COVIBOOK – Supporting and reassuring children around the world. PDF downloads in different languages: Español (Spanish)EnglishItalianoPortuguês (Brasil)PDF Português (Portugal)Français (French)Polskie (Polish)עברית (Hebrew), Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)Deutsche (German)Türkçe (Turkish)Pусский (Russian)عربي مصري (Egyptian Arabic), عربى (Arabic), ρουμανικός (Romanian)Magyar (Hungarian)Ελληνικά (Greek)Dansk (Danish)Српски (Serbian)Welsh

 

Ricky Buchanan (@jeshyr)

Poster with picture of hands being washed under tap. It says "Safety first: Medically fragile person here. Don't come in if sick. Use hand sanitiser" or wash hands when entering.

Safety first signs

 

PBS

Page one of the NPR comic for kids

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus

How You and Your Kids Can De-Stress During Coronavirus

How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus (with lots of links to activities and videos)

 

Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC)

Keep Mob Safe - Hand Hygiene posterKeep Mob Safe - Stay at home poster

Keep Mob Safe posters:

 

BrainPOP

Screenshot of the BrainPop Coronavirus page.

Coronavirus educational video, games, quiz, and other activities for kids

 

ABC Behind The News

Videos about the news for children and young people

 

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Languages other than English

 

National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIS)

NDIS Covid-19 Update (Auslan)

Auslan – Using the funding in your plan differently

Auslan – Support for children under seven years old

Auslan – Making plans last longer

Auslan – What will be in your next plan?

Auslan – Reviewing a plan

Auslan – Taking part in the NDIS

Text-only Easy Read booklets in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Filipino (Tagalog), French, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Macedonian, Samoan, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

 

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Coronavirus (COVID-19) – NDIS participant information

العربية / Arabic, 简体中文 / Chinese – Simplified, 繁體中文 / Chinese – Traditional, Tagalog / Filipino, Français / French, Ελληνικά / Greek, हिंदी / Hindi, Italiano / Italian, македонски / Macedonian, Samoa / Samoan, Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese

 

Deaf Australia

Frequent advocacy and information updates for Deaf people in Auslan on the Deaf Australia Facebook page and Vimeo channel.

 

Expression Australia

Daily Auslan video updates on their Facebook page with summaries of all the latest news and announcements.

 

Department of Social Services

COVID-19 Information and support for people with disability and carers

Auslan version of Helping others

Auslan version of Looking after yourself

Auslan version of Coronavirus (COVID-19) accessible resources

Auslan version of Support for your situation

Auslan version of the Disability Information Helpline

Auslan version of the Who else can you talk to?

 

First Peoples Disability Network

Coronavirus information in Auslan with captions

 

SBS

Coronavirus information in 63 languages: Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian, Bangla, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cantonese, Croatian, Dari, Dinka, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hakha Chin, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Karen, Khmer, Kirundi, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Macedonian, Malayalam, Maltese, Mandarin, Nepali, NITV Radio, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Rohingya, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese.

 

Northern Territory government

Audio recordings about coronavirus in Aboriginal languages

 

Ethnolink

COVID-19 (coronavirus) Multi-lingual resource library brought to you by Ethnolink Language Services

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Translated Resources – Information in Your LanguageArabic | العربية, Chinese (Simplified) | 简体中文Chinese (Traditional) | 繁體中文, Easy Read (Easy English)EnglishFarsi | فارسی, Greek | ΕλληνικάHindi | हिन्दीIndonesian | Bahasa IndonesiaItalian | ItalianoJapanese | 日本語Khmer | ភាសាខ្មែរKorean | 한국어Portuguese | PortuguêsPunjabi | ਪਜਾਬੀSpanish | EspañolTamil | தமிழ்Thai | ภาษาไทยTurkish | TürkçeVietnamese | Tiếng Việt.

 

Australian Government Department of Health

Three Coronavirus posters with Chinese text

Translated resources

 

NEDA – National Ethnic Disability Alliance

COVID-19 Global Pandemic – Where to find multilingual information easily and quickly

 

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Other helpful websites

 

Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)

AFDO logo

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information

 

Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA)

DANA logo

Coronavirus (COVID-19) information and resources

 

IDEAS

Ideas logo

Coronavirus pandemic page

All blog posts and resources tagged with Coronavirus / COVID-19

 

People With Disability Australia (PWDA)

COVID-19 Hub

 

Association for Children with a Disability

ACD logo

COVID-19 latest information

 

Carers Australia

Carers Australia logo

COVID-19: Advice for carers

 

Raising Children Network

raising children .net .au

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and children in Australia

 

Blind Citizens Australia (BCA)

Information on Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Information on Coronavirus (Covid-19)

BCA Happy Hours – weekday virtual catch-ups for people who are blind or vision impaired

 

Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN)

Information about Coronavirus (COVID-19)

 

First Peoples Disability Network

First People's Disability Network (FPDN) logo

Coronavirus (Covid-19) – Community Information

 

Women With Disabilities Australia

WWDA logo

Coronavirus COVID-19

 

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO)

NACCHO logo. Aboriginal health in Aboriginal hands

NACCHO Aboriginal Health News Alerts – Coronavirus

 

Australian Coalition for Inclusive Education (ACIE)

ACIE logo

Learning at home during a time of crisis COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

 

Summer Foundation

Summer Foundation Connect & Support – COVID-19 Response

Reasonable & Necessary podcast with Dr George

 

Autism Awareness Australia

Autism and Coronavirus (COVID-19)… The Essentials

 

Down Syndrome Australia

Down Syndrome Australia logo

Coronavirus (COVID19): Find out about coronavirus, how to stay safe and where to find more information

 

Collaborating 4 Inclusion & QDN

Cover of Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness Planning for COVID-19 Front page of My COVID-19 plan

COVID-19 Planning Resource for People with Disability

Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness Planning for COVID-19: A guide to assist you to develop your own Emergency Preparedness plan for COVID-19

My COVID-19 Plan

 

Council for Intellectual Disability (CID)

CID logo

COVID-19 Coronavirus

Information about Coronavirus COVID-19 for people with intellectual disability. Information, advice and tips on staying healthy and well, and more.

 

Advokit

Advokit is a pop-up website with information and resources from all around the web designed to help people with disability get through this really difficult time.

 

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Support, mental health and wellbeing

 

National 24/7 crisis services

lifeline: 13 11 14

Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

beyondblue: 1300 224 636

Looking after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak

 

Youth support services

headspace: 1800 650 890

How to cope with stress related to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kids Helpline (Australia) (@kidshelplineau) on

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

ReachOut

Let’s Chat: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – a forum for 14-25 year olds to chat, connect and support each other

SANE Australia: 1800 187 263

 

Blessing Manifesting

Managing Coronavirus (COVID-19) anxiety poster. For You - avoid excessive exposure to media - connect through calls/text/internet - add extra time for daily stress relief - practice self-care - focus on your mental health For Kids - reassure them that they're safe - let them talk about their worries - share your own coping skills - limit their news exposure - create a routine and structure For Quarantine/Isolation - keep in contact with your loved ones via social media, texts, and phone calls - create a daily self-care routine - keep yourself busy: games, books, movies - focus on new relaxation techniques

Managing Anxiety About the Corona Virus

 

US Centre for Disability Rights

Action page for people with disability who use support workers

 

World Health Organisation (WHO)

Screenshot of WHO's Helping children cope with stress during the 2019-nCoV outbreak poster

Coping with stress during the 2019-nCoV outbreak (poster)

Helping children cope with stress during the 2019-nCoV outbreak (poster)

Mental Health Considerations during COVID-19 Outbreak (PDF)

 

Head to Health

COVID-19 support

 

Inter-Agency Standing Committee

Briefing note on addressing mental health and psychosocial aspects of COVID-19 Outbreak- Version 1.1

 

Facebook groups

Local neighbourhood support groups are popping up for people who need a hand or who can help others out. A couple of Australian groups for people with disability have been created:

Disability and Chronic Illness COVID-19 Information Clearinghouse Australia

Covid-19 and People with Disability

 

Mind UK

Coronavirus and your wellbeing

 

Creaky Joints

Coronavirus Anxiety: Key Advice for Chronic Illness Patients from Health Psychologists

 

ABC Behind The News

Important things to remember about upsetting news

 

The Guardian

The good place: A series providing positive and practical stories for these difficult coronavirus times

Silver linings: how to stay positive during the coronavirus crisis

 

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Providers and workers

 

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

This morning (March 24) the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission sent out an update to all NDIS providers regarding gear and equipment. It contains important information for both providers and people who employ their own workers about:

  • when workers should self isolate
  • where to find training on infection control for workers
  • who should wear personal protective gear
  • where providers and workers can get gear from

And a follow-up email about important research on health risks and vulnerabilities of people with disability.

The Commission’s coronavirus information page covers:

 

National Disability Services

Coronavirus (COVID-19) information

 

Disability Services Consulting

Resources and policy for people with disability and providers

Supporting People to Stay Infection Free – a free 30-minute online training module for workers.

 

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General information about coronavirus

 

Australian Government

Coronavirus (COVID‑19)

There is a new “Coronavirus Australia” government app in the Apple App Store and Google Play, and a WhatsApp channel on iOS or Android.

Update: New COVID-19 Home Medicines Service

 

Department of Health

  • National Coronavirus Helpline – 1800 020 080
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19) resources
    • Find the facts
    • Home isolation and care
    • For travellers who have been in mainland China, Iran, Republic of Korea and Italy
    • For international travellers
    • For parents of school aged children
    • For aged care residents and families
    • For childcare, schools and higher education
    • For employers
    • For travel, transport and hotel industries
    • Posters

 

World Health Organisation (WHO)

 

Health Direct

COVID-19 coronavirus - how to avoid infection

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Symptom Checker

 

ABC News

Coronavirus stories

Coronacast podcast

BTN – Behind The News (for young people)

 

Department of Social Services

COVID-19 Information and support for people with disability and carers

 

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