Australia news LIVE Victoria records 1003 new COVID-19 cases 14 deaths NSW records 216 new local cases three deaths as state surpasses 90 per cent full vaccination rate

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The country’s chief health officers have recommended mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for more staff who work with vulnerable groups, months after the sector called for vaccine requirements.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee recommended mandating vaccines for all disability support workers, and home care workers, and said first doses should be administered by the end of November.

The AHPPC recommended mandating vaccines for all disability support workers and home care workers.Credit:Peter Braig

The AHPPC has already recommended mandatory vaccinations for residential aged care staff, and said requiring vaccines for community aged care workers provides “an important protection for vulnerable senior Australians during this emergency”.

The group also said it would provide vital protection to those living with disability. The group, made up of the country’s chief medical officers, said vaccinations should be a condition of work or entry into the homes of NDIS recipients.

Vaccines should also be a requirement for all workers delivering in-home services including the home care packages and the Commonwealth home support program, the AHPPC said.

At the end of June, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced vaccines would become mandatory for residential aged care staff, and some states and territories have also mandated vaccines for high-risk workers including frontline hospital staff.

In July, the aged care sector called for mandatory vaccinations for home care workers saying it was “an obvious blind spot” for COVID.

So far, more than 81 per cent of the eligible population aged over 16 are fully vaccinated, and more than 90 per cent of everyone aged over 70 has had two doses.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has warned COVID-19 vaccination rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are “dangerously lagging” the nation, and they are at an elevated risk as the country opens up.

The national double-dose vaccination rate for Australians aged 16 and up is 80.6 per cent, and 89.4 per cent of people in that age group have received a first dose. The national plan for easing coronavirus restrictions is tied to a national 80 per cent target.

But just 54.5 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are fully vaccinated against the virus, the RACGP said, and 66.2 per cent have received one dose.

“And the gap in vaccination coverage between the general population and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is far worse in certain jurisdictions, particularly those currently less affected by COVID-19 outbreaks, including Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.”

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced a new road map on Monday for easing coronavirus restrictions in remote Top End communities, which have a higher proportion of Indigenous Australians and younger people.

The double-dose vaccination target in remote communities will be 80 per cent of people aged five and over, not 16 and over as is standard across the rest of the country. No vaccine is yet approved in Australia for use in 5- to 11-year-olds.

“Simple maths tells us that vaccinating 80 per cent of people 16 and over in a community where the median age is 25 won’t give you the same coverage or protection as a community where the median age is 40,” Mr Gunner said.

RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Chair, Professor Peter O’Mara, said: “The fact that there remains a serious gap in vaccine coverage between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people in our country is a national shame.

“We urgently need to ramp up vaccine access and education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, particularly for younger community members and certain jurisdictions, including Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, which we know are really lagging behind.

“So, as we move to enjoying more freedoms, it’s critical that we do more to achieve high rates of vaccination among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country â€" we cannot leave anyone behind.”

A Victorian man has been arrested after allegedly crossing the South Australian border illegally in a stolen car and crashing into another vehicle while attempting to outrun police.

The man was driving along Northern Expressway in a Kia Carnival about 7pm on Tuesday when he crashed into the other car near Gawler, about 40 kilometres north of Adelaide.

The man will face Adelaide Magistrates Court today.Credit:Louie Douvis

South Australia Police claim the 28-year-old failed to render assistance and fled the scene on foot before he was arrested a few streets away.

“Police deployed various resources along the highway to try to stop the stolen car after it crossed the border near Yamba about 5.30pm, including the use of Polair,” SA Police said.

The crash caused traffic to bank up along the Northern Expressway northbound for several hours.

The driver of the other vehicle, a 26-year-old man, received non-life-threatening injuries and was flown to hospital.

The 28-year-old Victorian man has been charged with driving dangerously to cause a police pursuit, illegally using a motor vehicle, causing harm by dangerous driving, resisting arrest, leaving the scene of an accident, and failing to comply with a direction.

He did not apply for bail and is due to front Adelaide Magistrates Court today.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath says thousands of people stuck interstate in COVID-19 hotspots will have enough clarity to start booking flights home from today.

The home quarantine criteria for residents returning or people relocating to Queensland will be made public today, ahead of the staged reopening of the border from November 19 at the latest.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.Credit:Matt Dennien

In an expansion of the recent trial, the scheme will be open to people in regional areas provided their place of quarantine is less than two hours’ drive from their port of arrival by air â€" which can be reached either directly or via a single transfer in Brisbane.

To be suitable for home quarantine, residences must be accessible by a direct, open-air entry with no common areas. All other residents in the home will also have to quarantine for the full 14 days, with a range of testing and check-in requirements.

“If you are interstate, or you have a loved one interstate, trying to come into Queensland, later today that criteria will be put up on the [Queensland Health] website,” Ms D’Ath said.

“People will be able to look at that criteria, see if they meet that criteria, and they can start booking their flights.

“The only thing that will stand in their way if they meet that criteria is they don’t get a negative test before they fly. So, this is great news for people interstate, it’s a great step forward for Queensland in opening up.”

Entry by road will not be allowed until the state reaches an 80 per cent full vaccination rate for people aged 16 and over, or from December 17, whichever comes first.

The Northern Territory has recorded one new case of COVID-19, in a Defence Force employee who has been in isolation for his infectious period.

That case is unliked to an existing cluster of four cases in the Darwin/Katherine area, which has been traced to a 21-year-old woman who entered the territory from Cairns after spending time Melbourne. Genomic testing has linked the outbreak to Victoria.

No new COVID-19 cases have been detected in the Darwin/Katherine cluster.Credit:AFR

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the case was not of concern to authorities and no new cases had been recorded in the Darwin/Katherine cluster.

“We remain confident we are on top of this cluster,” Ms Fyles said.

Testing of wastewater in the Katherine area in the Bicentennial Road catchment had revealed traces of COVID-19 on November 8, following negative results on November 5 to 7.

Masks remain mandatory outside the home in Greater Darwin and Katherine until 5pm on Friday.

Ms Fyles said those areas were “not going into a lockout or lockdown” and the health advice was no other public health measures were needed at this stage.

There was “no need for residents to be alarmed but they do need to be very careful around their personal health” and get tested if they experienced even the mildest of symptoms.

A West Australian teenager has been arrested for allegedly speeding through a border checkpoint after his attempts to be granted approval to return home from NSW were repeatedly rejected.

Police allege the 17-year-old boy had multiple G2G pass applications rejected before he decided to drive from NSW to WA via Victoria and South Australia.

Once in South Australia, the teen submitted another application on Saturday suggesting he had been in the COVID-free state for 14 days, and was approved entry to WA.

The following day, he and his 24-year-old male passenger were stopped at the Eucla border checkpoint at which point police allege information was obtained which suggested he had recently been in NSW and Victoria.

He was turned away but allegedly returned two hours later and drove his vehicle at high-speed past the checkpoint, failing to stop for police.

“The vehicle was later located about 20 kilometres east of Norseman,” a police spokesman said.

“The two occupants were arrested without incident and have been tested for COVID-19.

“Each have been charged with three counts of fail to comply with a direction under the Emergency Management Act.”

The man will appear in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Wednesday, while the boy will appear in Perth Children’s Court on November 23.

WA downgraded NSW to a ‘high risk’ state on Sunday, which meant returning residents could apply to return home on compassionate grounds.

Victoria remains an extreme risk state, with very few exemptions granted for people to enter WA.

Queensland will extend its health sector vaccine mandate beyond the public sector, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath says.

Workers in or operating across private hospitals and settings such as GPs, community pharmacies and physiotherapy clinics, will now be required to be fully vaccinated by December 15.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath at a COVID-19 update.Credit:Matt Dennien

“This is in line with the AHPPC [Australian Health Protection Principal Committee] directive and just about every other jurisdiction are putting in these mandatory requirements for our health workforce,” she told reporters in Cairns.

“It is really important that no matter whether you turn up at a public hospital or private, your GP, your pharmacy or other primary or allied health care, that you have the confidence that that workforce is fully vaccinated and there’s less chance of them passing the virus on to you.”

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has rubbished Australia’s plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, saying they will be old technology by the time they are rolled out.

“Eight submarines against China in 20 years’ time” will be like a “handful of toothpicks at the mountain”, he said during his National Press Club address.

He said the plan was about attacking Chinese naval assets, which was an aggressive move.“What is that got to do with the defence of Australia?”

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating on Wednesday.Credit:ABC

The federal government announced in September that Australia would acquire its first fleet of nuclear-powered submarines as part of a historic defence pact with the US and the UK, aimed at countering China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.

The new AUKUS alliance, described by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a “forever partnership”, is regarded as Australia’s most significant strategic move in decades.

But political editor Peter Hartcher has previously written that China already has 66 submarines and is expected to have 10 more by 2030, six of which are nuclear powered, according to the US Office of Naval Intelligence.

By that date, Hartcher wrote, Australia will still only have the same six Collins class diesel powered subs that were first commissioned by the Hawke government, if they are still functional. Hartcher said the retirement of those submarines has been postponed repeatedly by successive governments, Labor and Liberal.

Former prime minister Paul Keating has begun his National Press Club appearance by lashing Australia’s foreign policy on China, saying the country is “at odds with its geography and has lost its way”.

He said Australia should be looking to its immediate north, Indonesia, to engage in the region, rather than the “Quad” alliance with the US, India and Japan.

The former Labor leader said India would never be engaged in a conflict in the South China Sea, and Japan should have reached a point of accommodation with China “years ago”.

“No, they are hanging out for some Quad which has us in it, the Americans, the Indians in it… This is the kind of hopeless environment we are in.”

He said China’s economy would be 250 per cent the size of the US in the years ahead, but the US was refusing to acknowledge China’s preeminence in East Asia.

Mr Keating said the problem with Australia’s foreign policy was that it is informed by the “spooks” - referring to intelligence and security agencies.

“It’s informed, our foreign policy debate now in Canberra, is informed by the security agencies.

“You are not getting a macro view of what China really is.”

Mr Keating’s views about China are, of course, well known. You can read more here.

Hawthorn AFL player Finn Maginness has tested positive for COVID-19 and his close contacts are isolating as they await negative results.

The Hawks released a statement on Wednesday morning confirming the positive case.

They said Maginness attended the club’s Waverley Park facility in Melbourne on Monday but did not have any symptoms until Tuesday morning.

Maginness will now quarantine in line with the AFL and Victorian government’s quarantine protocols.

Hawthorn said all their players were either fully vaccinated or scheduled for their second dose in the coming days.

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