My 35 year old daughter Kyra lives in disability supported accommodation. Kyra can not communicate verbally, use her left hand, or walk so she requires full time disability support workers for all of her personal care and to access her life.

The average household in Victoria is 2.6 people. Due to Kyra’s disability her household consists of 22 people. Kyra has nearly ten times more people in her household than the average Victorian. The current Covid-19 rule of 7 days isolation if you are a close household contact to a positive case of Covid-19 means that Kyra could potentially spend her life in a repetitive cycle of isolation.

Kyra is currently isolating for 7 days because one of her disability support workers, hence household contact, supported Kyra while infected with Covid-19. Covid-19 is now very prevalent in our community and the chances of disability support workers continuing to enter Kyra’s home and support her while infected with Covid-19 is high.

Kyra has an active, stimulating life outside of her house. She volunteers, participates and contributes to our community. Kyra does not deserve to spend her days in isolation, unable to make any real plans because she is forced into home isolation due to the high probability of being a household contact to Covid-19.

Every disability support worker needs to have a Rapid Antigen Test administered and to produce a negative result before entering disability supported accommodation. Without this basic necessity Kyra and the other people residing in disability support accommodation are not able to have equal access to their lives and the federally legislated Disability Discrimination Act 1992 is being breached.   

On behalf of my daughter and every person residing in disability supported accommodation I urge the government to respond with an action plan that will see disability support workers having a funded Rapid Antigen Test before each shift. Urgent and active response is required.