COVID-19 Service Update

Following today’s announcement from New South Wales Health, breakthru will continue to operate with our previously announced service changes in place. This means in the Greater Sydney area:

• Group supports are temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

With respect to the announcement mandating vaccinations for authorised workers in the 12 Local Government Areas of concern, breakthru will continue to encourage all staff to come forward and get vaccinated.

For those workers who are unable to find a suitable appointment, breakthru is supporting staff on a case by case basis and advocating for them to receive a priority vaccination appointment if they wish.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Following today’s announcement from New South Wales Health, our Dubbo office will temporarily close and adopt the following service changes:

• Group supports will be temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Following today’s announcement from Queensland Health, our Cairns office will adopt the following service changes:

• Group supports will be temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

For clarity, this means our Cairns office will be temporarily closed to until further notice. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Due to recent health announcements in both Victoria and New South Wales, our offices in Melbourne, Wallsend and Raymond Terrace will now adopt the following service changes:

• Group supports will be temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Following the QLD Health announcement of a snap lockdown across South-East Queensland, breakthru will be implementing the following measures in Brisbane:

• Group supports will be temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

During this period our Fortitude Valley office will be temporarily closed, expecting to reopen on Monday 9th August 2021 at 8:45am. For more information about the LGA’s impacted and restrictions in please please visit the QLD Government website.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Following the announcement today from NSW Heath about an extended 4-week lockdown, our services will continue to reflect the latest Government recommendations. This means for our customers in Greater Sydney and Central Coast:

• Group supports will be temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• Essential Supports for vulnerable customers can still be carried out at our locations and will reflect 1 person per 4 square metre rule
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

In addition to the announcement from VIC Health earlier this week, our services in Melbourne will now slowly return to normal. This means in Victoria:

• In-office group supports will remain suspended
• Some in-community group supports will recommence, providing adequate social distancing and capacity limits can be adhered to
• Masks will continue to be worn at all times

Our COVID-19 response team will continue to meet daily and monitor changing health recommendations. If you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Following today’s announcement from VIC Health, our services will change in line with Government recommendations. This means for our customers in Melbourne:

• Group supports will be temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• Essential Supports for vulnerable customers can still be carried out at our locations and will reflect 1 person per 4 square metre rule
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

Our COVID-19 response team will continue to meet daily and monitor changing health recommendations. If you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Following today’s announcement from NSW Health, any staff working in the Fairfield LGA will be instructed to work from home unless their duties require them to travel. Staff travelling outside of the Fairfield LGA must now get tested every 3 days to ensure their safety and the safety of their peers and our customers.

In line with our previous announcement for Greater Sydney, group services will remain suspended and vulnerable customers in need of 1:1 support will be assessed individually to ensure they are supported safely.

Further to the NSW Government’s announcement yesterday, our offices in the Greater Sydney and Central Coast regions will remain closed. Essential services will still be provided to customers as per Update #5 on this page dated 28th June 2021.

If you have any questions about these restrictions or how they affect you, please contact us on 1800 767 212.

Following the QLD Health Public Health Direction announced this morning, our offices in Brisbane and Townsville will temporarily close as we enter a 3-day lockdown.

For customers in Brisbane and Townsville:

• Group supports will be temporarily suspended
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• Essential Supports for vulnerable customers can still be carried out at our locations and will reflect 1 person per 4 square metre rule
• All other non-essential supports will be provided remotely

Our COVID-19 response team will continue to meet daily and monitor changing health recommendations. If you have any questions or concerns please call us on 1800 767 212.

Further to the NSW Public Health order announced yesterday, breakthru’s service delivery will reflect the latest government health advice and guidance recommendations.

For customers in Greater Sydney including the Central Coast:

• Group supports will be suspended for a 2 week period.
• breakthru will continue to support customers 1:1 who are most vulnerable and in need of our support and who would otherwise be significantly impacted without them
• Essential Support can be carried out within the Hub and reflect 1 person per 4 square metre rule
• Supports can be provided remotely and using technology, let your breakthru support worker know if this is your preference.

For customers in Regional NSW

• Group supports will continue providing no more than 1 person per 4 square metre rule is adhered to

In all areas of NSW

• Masks will be worn by staff and customers where practicable
• Reinforcing hand washing and infection control precautions
• Practising social distancing while considering the needs of our customers
• Taking a proactive approach to check in with each customer as they arrive to the Hub to ensure they are well and not displaying any symptoms
• Sanitising surfaces regularly
• Encourage customers to bring their own water bottles and or reusable coffee cup

Our COVID19 Response Team will meet again tomorrow and monitor developments and adjust advice as needed.

If you have any question or concerns please reach out to your breakthru staff member of call 1800 767 212.

In response to the Queensland Health announcement of a 3-day lockdown in the Greater Brisbane area, our Fortitude Valley office will be closed, reopening on Tuesday the 6th April 2021 at 8:30am.

Throughout this time our staff will still be available. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your breakthru staff member or call 1800 767 212.

As part of our ongoing commitment to health and safety, breakthru has created a personalised COVID Safe Plan and lodged the document with the relevant Government departments in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

This plan highlights our approach to mitigating the introduction and spread of COVID-19 through guidance on hygiene, cleaning, physical distancing, workplace attendance, record keeping and response scenarios.

If you want to know how we’re responding to COVID-19 please read our COVID Safe Plan or call 1800 767 212 for more information.

Due to the COVID-19 situation in Victoria we have made the decision to temporarily close our offices in Glenroy, Craigieburn,  Melton and St Albans. We are still offering remote telehealth services, so if you’re in Victoria and need some support please reach out so we can assist.

As restrictions across the country begin to ease and with services slowly recommencing, we wanted to provide an update to our customers, our employees, their families and members of the community.

Firstly, we wanted to say thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding during the past three months of COVID-19 restrictions. The ongoing health and safety of customers, employees and community members during this pandemic is our top priority.

With that in mind, we wanted to give you an update on what we are doing to continue to keep everyone safe.

How services are changing

With the government restrictions easing, breakthru will start delivering group services from 22^nd June in line with the current government guidelines.

We will ensure that as services return, the number of people that can gather together will stay within the 1 person per 4 metre square rule and that people will maintain the 1.5 metre social distance from each other where practicable.

When customers and employees return to sites we will:

• Pre-screen all customers and employees to ensure that they are not displaying symptoms of COVID-19;
• Complete daily checklists to monitor conditions including a register of people on-site (with contact details to allow for contact tracing);
• Continuously monitor restrictions and respond appropriately.

We will also conduct regular site audits to make sure our sites are COVID safe. This includes:

• A focus on hand washing/sanitising stations; social distancing, increased cleaning and minimising numbers to allow for 4sqm per person;
• Increased signage to remind people to wipe/disinfect surfaces, maintain social distance, hand hygiene;
• Providing additional cleaning supplies to be used by customers and employees prior and after use of areas including benches/tables.
• Positioning furniture to maintain social distancing;

Our COVID-19 Response Team continues to meet regularly to monitor developments and adjust advice as needed.

We want to thank you once again for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

If you have any questions about our services and the precautions we are putting in place, please reach out to your breakthru staff member. Alternatively, feel free to leave us a message or call us on 1800 767 212.