Thank you for being a Member of Five Good Friends. It is an honour to be providing you help and support.

As always our primary focus is to keep all of our Members and Helpers safe.

We are distributing this via email as it is the quickest way we can reach as many Five Good Friends Members as possible. We would be grateful if you shared this information to assist in its distribution. We are also communicating with all Helpers in Victoria on the Five Good Friends platform.

As you will be aware, last night at 11:59pm Victoria entered a 7 day 'circuit breaker' lockdown which, at this stage, is set to conclude at 11:59pm, 3 June 2021. You can find extensive information here on the Victorian government coronavirus website.

COVID-19 Safe work practices

We have developed a regularly updated resource for all Five Good Friends team members, Helpers and Members. Our COVID-19 Safe work practices and Standard Operating Procedure are informed by Commonwealth and State Departments of Health.

These documents provide guidance on how to safely manage and deliver services. Yesterday we sent communications to all Victorian Helpers advising them on key updates in response to this lockdown.

What does this mean for your services?

Visits can continue during the lockdown period. Helpers who work in Victoria must follow scenario 2B in the Standard Operating Procedure including wearing a mask, gloves and apron for all visits.

We continue to urge all Helpers and Five Good Friends team members to be vigilant in their management of COVID-19 and any symptoms. This includes cancelling visits if they have any concerns. If your Helper does need to cancel a visit at short notice we would be grateful for your understanding. We will work very hard to ensure your services continue with minimal disruption.

If you want to make a change to your visits you can discuss this directly with your Helpers. If you require further assistance please contact our Member Services Team on 1300 787 581 and select Option 1.

Public exposure sites

Public exposures sites are places that have had confirmed cases visit during their infectious period. The Victorian coronavirus website provides a list of all current public exposure sites and the health advice to be followed if you were in attendance during the identified time period. This information can be found here.

Testing remains a priority for everyone

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 such as a cough, fever, sore throat, shortness of breath or runny nose, chills or sweat, even if these are mild, you should get tested for COVID-19 as soon as possible. You can also contact the Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 675 398 for advice.

To arrange testing you can visit a COVID-19 testing clinic in your area. You can find testing locations on the Victorian government coronavirus website. Please advise us and your Helper if you are going to be tested.

Vaccination

Commonwealth and State health departments as well as expert health advisors such as the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) strongly encourage vaccination.

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of our Members, Helpers, staff and the community Five Good Friends is following this advice by recommending vaccination. We understand there may be reasons (e.g. medical) that prevent vaccination. Based on expert health advice from organisations including the AHPPC, Australian governments may issue enforceable directives and public health orders in the future, which specify mandatory requirements to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to work in specific industries. We are monitoring for these directives.

If you have any concerns or questions please contact your Care Team via details in the App or the Member Services Team on 1300 787 581 and select Option 1.

We are grateful you have chosen Five Good Friends. We will continue to diligently monitor the COVID-19 situation and do our best to provide you safe, flexible, kind and consistent help and support.

Kind regards,

William Garton
Head of Quality and Programme Development
Five Good Friends