From 25 January 2022, residential aged care homes must report the number of service staff who have received a COVID-19 booster vaccination. This is in addition to the existing COVID-19 reporting requirements for aged care homes. Here are the details.

Who Must Report?

The new requirement is the same as for the existing reporting requirements. It applies to an approved provider of:

• a residential care service
• a flexible care service through which transition care is provided (whether in a residential or community setting)
• a flexible care service through which short‑term restorative care is provided (whether in a residential care setting or a home care setting)
• a home care service.

What Needs to Be Recorded and Reported?

In addition to existing reporting requirements, from 25 January 2022, providers must report the number of those service staff who have informed the approved provider, whether voluntarily or as required under a law of a state or territory, that they have received a booster dose of a COVID‑19 vaccine.

How and When is Reporting Required

Report every Tuesday via the My Aged Care provider portal.

How and When Did This Change Happen?

On 22 January 2022, the Commonwealth Government passed a law called the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Vaccination Information) Principles 2022. This law inserted the new booster vaccination requirements into the Accountability Principles 2014 (Cth) and the Records Principles 2014 (Cth).

Data Insights

Aged Care Consultant Jillian Kidd from CompliSpace suggests you can gain further valuable insights from your data collection. “Incorporating data capture as part of a Continuous Improvement Program gives you the opportunity to collect not only mandatory data but additional information that supports robust and effective information systems. This is something we are encouraging clients to do and are seeing great benefits.”

Further Information

Note: some resources will not yet be up to date with these latest changes.

Department of Health: Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination reporting

Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Vaccination Information) Principles 2022: Explanatory Statement