Information for Staff

Stay-at-home orders are now in place for the whole of NSW. See the restrictions for where you live: 

• Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains and Wollongong 
• Local government areas (LGAs) of concern including the LGAs of Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and some suburbs of the Penrith LGA.
• Regional and rural NSW including the Central Coast, Shellharbour and border communities 

Full details on restrictions and exceptions are on the NSW Health website

Please do not come to campus. All work and study including research, teaching and learning activities should continue online or be deferred until further notice. If you need to be on campus to perform critical work, you or your supervisor should have already notified your Dean, FED or Divisional Head.

Local government areas of concern include the local government areas of Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and the suburbs of Caddens, Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Erskine Park, Kemps Creek, Kingswood, Mount Vernon, North St Marys, Orchard Hills, Oxley Park, St Clair and St Marys in the Penrith LGA.

Students and staff who live in these areas should already be working from home unless your work has been deemed critical by the University.

• If you live in the affected LGAs and work in a role that the University deems as a critical service, please speak to your supervisor and they will make alternative arrangements for your work activities to be covered. You must remain home. 

• If you live in the affected LGAs, are in a role that performs a critical service to the University and/or the community, and you believe that your role is included in the list of authorised workers (for example some students and staff from the Faculty of Medicine & Health), you must obtain written permission from your Dean or Divisional Head before you attend campus and comply with the rules for authorised workers. 

• If you are an authorised worker, in addition to the above:
  • you require a permit from Service NSW declaring you are an authorised worker and cannot work from home. 
  • From Thursday 9 September you will also be required to have evidence of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, an appointment booked to be vaccinated on or before 19 September, or a medical exemption.Details on requirements and acceptable evidence are here.

The current health advice for anyone aged 18 years and over living in Greater Sydney is to get vaccinated with any available vaccine. You can book a vaccination appointment using the Vaccine Clinic Finder. 

Appointments are now available through vaccination hubs and participating GPs and pharmacies.

To help our students and staff navigate the information and advice on the COVID-19 vaccines, UNSW expert and epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, in conjunction with Arc, has put together some FAQs which you can find here.  

Up to date and comprehensive information on vaccine safety and the different COVID-19 vaccines is also on the NSW Health website and the Australian Department of Health website.  

COVID-19 leave arrangements are available for staff directly affected by the pandemic including those who are required to self-isolate or provide care to others.

If you are caring for children at home or home-schooling during lockdown, you can access your accrued carers leave entitlement for one day (or seven hours) per week.  This provision will be reviewed at the end of September when information about current restrictions is updated. Further information is on the HR Hub.

Students and staff are encouraged to use the UNSW COVID-19 Case Notification Form to report a confirmed case of COVID-19 or a close contact of a positive case. This will help to ensure that everyone in the UNSW community is kept as safe as possible and that you (or the staff member/student affected) are provided with the support that you may need. For more information on who should report and how to report visit here. 

A range of information and resources is available including:

• Information on our special COVID-19 wellbeing offerings for staff
• Our wellbeing website with information and webinars on positive physical and mental health
• A six-month wellbeing program for families
• The Uprise App – a personal trainer for your mood, resilience and emotional intelligence 
• Our Employee Assistance Program – a confidential counselling, coaching and wellbeing service 
• Useful tips and online resources for parents and carers. 

If for any reason you do not feel safe at home, whether because of family violence, mental health or other concerns, you should talk to your HR Business Partner to discuss options and support available. All discussions will be confidential.

Our recent special COVID-19 edition of Inside UNSW also highlights a range of available support for managers and staff. 

If you require support, you can talk to your manager. UNSW also provides support services for staff through its free and confidential counselling service, Benestar, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

You can also email hrsupport@unsw.edu or contact a member of your HRBP team.