In March, a program and policy taskforce was created to proactively address the effects of COVID-19 on communities affected by disadvantage.

Having the taskforce in place enabled us to take a cohesive approach to the pandemic.

First actions included advocating with both federal and Victorian governments to drive urgent social justice responses and modifying our own programs and services to ensure we could maintain delivery. We also developed a strategy around our community stores, to balance safety and the threat of social isolation to customers and volunteers.

We checked in on the people we serve, offering extra help where we could. This included our NDIS Services team working to ensure that people with a disability can access the supports they need and that any participants who experience an interruption to services know who to call for assistance.

We undertook regular check-ins with participants in our programs, who were at risk of being more disconnected and isolated than ever before, and delivered essential items to some of our Home Care Package clients.

We explored how we could use our resources to more broadly help those in our community affected by the COVID-19 virus so that they could get the care they needed.