Flourish Australia, staying safe and making changes in line with the latest COVID-19 developments

Thursday, 30 July, 2020

Flourish Australia’s number one priority is everyone’s wellbeing – the wellbeing of the people we support, the Flourish Australia team and the wider community. The Flourish Australia team are doing a great job supporting people and ensuring everyone stays COVID-safe.

Physical distancing, thorough hand washing, and cough etiquette are an important part of the response at all Flourish Australia sites. In addition, the importance of people staying home if they feel sick and getting tested if they have symptoms is being constantly reinforced.

We are continuously reviewing our response to COVID-19 to ensure that we provide appropriate support and guidance, consistent with current government public health advice and public health orders.

We thought you might like to know the changes we have made recently.

Wearing a face mask is highly recommended

We have started to highly recommend that our staff and the people we support wear a facemask if physical distancing cannot be guaranteed when delivering a support session. This includes during transport, one-on-one activities and group activities.

Wearing a facemask is also highly recommended when people are travelling on public transport to and from work or a support session.

Of course, the Flourish Australia teams in Melbourne are wearing facemasks in line with the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s directions. Our teams in South West Sydney, Parramatta, as well as Wingecarribee and Wollondilly Shires are wearing facemasks when delivering any type of support, consistent with the advice of the NSW Chief Health Officer.

Our position regarding facemasks is constantly under review and may change in relation to specific services or programs such as residential sites or services within identified ‘hot spots’. We are closely monitoring public health advice.

We are now providing face masks

Disposable face masks are now being provided to people for support sessions where physical distancing can not be guaranteed.

In addition to disposable facemasks, we are also organising for all staff to have two reusable, washable facemasks that can be used when outside.

We have introduced a Health Check-In

We have introduced additional Health Check-In questions for everyone accessing our sites. On arrival people are now also being asked the following questions:

Have you recently travelled to Melbourne?
Have you been in contact with anyone confirmed to have COVID-19 or who is currently undergoing testing?
Are you, or is anyone you have been in contact with, experiencing cold or flu like symptoms?

In addition to existing questions and temperature checking, this enhanced safety measure is to protect everyone’s health and safety.

We are encouraging all staff and participants to stay informed

We are encouraging all of our staff and people accessing services to take the time to familiarise themselves with identified ‘hot spots’ in their State or Territory. These can be found on the relevant government website:

In accordance with public health advice, any staff member or person accessing services who has visited a declared ‘hot spot’ is being asked to get tested and to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Support for Melbourne

Our Melbourne team has done an outstanding job of rearranging services to virtual supports so that we can continue to meet the needs of everyone accessing our services. They have also ensured compliance with wearing a facemask when outside. This has been a very important part of our COVID-safe response now that increased restrictions are back in place in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. Like everyone, we are hoping the additional effort local communities are putting into ‘flattening the curve’ will bear fruit pretty quickly.