Impact of COVID-19 on Disability Support Workers (DSWs) in Australia

Lead researcher: Ashley McAllister
Disability & Health Unit, Melbourne School of Global and Population Health
Team members: Anne Kavanagh, Helen Dickinson, Stefanie Dimov, Mellissa Kavenagh
Partner organisation: University of New South Wales, Canberra

The study provides important insights into the challenges experienced by staff working in Victorian disability residential settings in the second wave of Victoria’s COVID-19 pandemic.

Research Outcomes 

The latest report looks at outbreaks of COVID-19 in disability residential care during Victoria’s second wave, in June-October 2020. The report describes what managers and their staff experienced during this time, including issues around access to information, communication within their organisation, COVID-19 training, access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), testing and contact tracing.

The research report Disability Support Workers: The Forgotten Workforce in COVID-19 describes the findings from a national on-line survey of 357 disability support workers (DSWs) conducted between May and June 2020.

View the project page, download reports and factsheets and find out more about the impact of Covid-19 on Disability Support workers at the Centre of Research Excellence in Disability Health here.