Disability rights group People with Disability Australia (PWDA) has called on federal and state governments to immediately make rapid antigen tests (RATs) and N95 masks free for people with disability, their families and colleagues.
“Government has a clear responsibility to keep people with disability safe by providing safe and free in-home testing, including PCR testing for those who cannot safely travel,” PWDA president Samantha Connor said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Free or heavily government-subsidised tests should [also] be also readily available to the public via pharmacies, community pick-up points, education settings, workplaces and other public settings,” she said.
Ms Connor’s comments came as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a statement on Tuesday saying it is monitoring the pricing on RAT kits to prevent retailers selling them at “excessive” prices.
“The ACCC has established a team to work on the issues,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said in the statement.
Australia on Tuesday surged past the 500,000 COVID-19 milestone since the start of the pandemic, with both NSW and Victoria recording their highest ever tallies.
NSW posted 23,131 new cases on Tuesday, with a further two deaths, while Victoria recorded 14,020 cases – the first time the state has posted more than 10,000 cases in a 24-hour period.
Ms Connor said the governments in Australia should follow countries where people with disability were being cared for.
“In the United Kingdom, a twice-weekly preventative regime is in place to ensure that people with disability who receive care services are safe from COVID,” she said.
“People with disability and their caregivers are able to access rapid antigen tests in the UK, including via mail, as part of a wider preventative regime of COVID-safe strategies.”
Ms Connor has also raised concerns about the federal government’s new definition of a close contact, which has been adopted by most states.
According to the new definition, a close contact is a person who has spent four or more hours with a confirmed COVID-19 case in a household or 'household-like' setting, except in exceptional circumstances.
“Without a free and freely available regime of rapid antigen testing for disability support workers, families and carers, people with disability who are clinically vulnerable to COVID could die,” Ms Connor said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday resisted calls to make RATs free across the country.
“We’re now in a stage of the pandemic where you can’t just make everything free,” Mr Morrison told Channel 7’s Sunrise program.
“When someone tells you they want to make something free, someone’s always going to pay for it, and it’s going to be you.”
However, Mr Morrison said he was in the process of finalising concessional access to RATs with state and territory leaders. The details will be signed off in the national cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The ACCC said it was aware of the significant public concern about the pricing of RATs and is contacting suppliers and monitoring the situation very closely.
“We are seeking information from suppliers about their costs and the current pricing of rapid antigen tests. We are also asking them about their current stock levels, and the amounts on order, and about their expectations about when additional tests may become readily available to consumers,” Mr Sims said.
“We won’t be shy to name and shame suppliers and retailers we consider to be doing the wrong thing,” he said.
