The Y NSW upholds its commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of the community. Getting the community of NSW fit and health is what we’re all about! We also pride ourselves on maintaining the highest level of vigilance on Child Safeguarding. We make sure that when you come to the Y, you come to a COVIDSafe place. This is how we do that.
The Y NSW is here to provide a healthy place for everyone in New South Wales. After all, that’s what we do! We acknowledge the potentially fatal impacts of COVID-19 on people’s health, particularly people who face additional health challenges and cannot be protected by vaccination. To make sure we keep everyone as safe as we can, we take the following steps to providing a COVIDSafe environment at the Y.
Recreation, Fitness, Gymnastics, Aquatics and Group Sport
We adhere to the latest Public Health Orders on keeping our gyms, recreation centres, swimming pools, gymnastics and sport programs COVIDSafe. We make sure:
- Encouraging our teams to be vaccinated.
- Ensuring everyone entering a Y office, recreation centre, aquatic centre or gymnastics club must check in using the Service NSW QR code.
- All our recreation and aquatic centres, and our gymnastics clubs, have COVIDSafe plans.
- All our people are trained in COVID safe practices.
- We comply with mask wearing stipulations.
- We clean our sites in accordance with our COVIDSafe plans and public health recommendations.
- We cap class sites and the number of people allowed at our centres, in groups and in our pools so that we comply with public health orders.
- We support our teams to be upfront if they are feeling unwell, to go and get tested and not return to work until they have a negative test result.
- We maintain physical distancing in accordance with public health orders. We ask our people and our customers to do the same, and we make sure it’s clear (through signage, social media communication, regular email communication and this website) to everyone coming to a Y that this is the expectation.
- We’re nice about reminding people when it comes to the rules on COVID-19. We do reserve the right, however, that if you’re not nice back or if you refuse to comply – we’ll have to ask you to leave. We need to keep everyone safe and healthy – that’s our job.
- We communicate to Y Members and the community regularly about how and when regulations change, including when it comes to invoicing our Members.
- Activating swift shutdown procedures in the event that there is a COVID-19 infection at one of our centres, and communicating with our customers and partners as a matter of urgency and on the advice of NSW Health.
Camps
We adhere to the latest Public Health Orders on running our camps in a COVIDSafe way. Camps are all about coming together, feeling like you’re part of a crew, and meeting new challenges to you build your strength and resilience. You can’t achieve that if you don’t feel safe. With that mind, we make sure we keep our camps safe by:
- Encouraging our teams to be vaccinated.
- Ensuring everyone entering a Y camp site must check in using the Service NSW QR code.
- Having regularly updated COVIDSafe plans that we register with the schools and community groups that book our camp sites.
- Having all our people trained in COVID safe practices.
- Complying with mask wearing stipulations, and asking the people that stay at our camps to do the same.
- Cleaning our sites in accordance with our COVIDSafe plans and public health recommendations.
- Only opening our camps when we can accommodate everyone in sleeping, bathing and eating spaces that comply with physical distancing requirements under public health orders.
- Supporting our teams to be upfront if they are feeling unwell, to go and get tested and not return to work until they have a negative test result.
- Maintaining physical distancing in accordance with public health orders. We ask our people and the people staying with us to do the same.
- We’re nice about reminding people when it comes to the rules on COVID-19. We do reserve the right, however, that if you’re not nice back or if you refuse to comply – we’ll have to ask you to leave. We need to keep everyone safe and healthy – that’s our job.
- We communicate to the people booking our camp sites, and the community, about how and when regulations change.
Children’s Services
Our Outside School Hours Care and Vacation Care services have existing policies when it comes to infection control, health and safety. COVID-19 safety practices work in tandem with these existing policies at the Y. The Y NSW upholds best practice when it comes to Child Safeguarding, and we include our approach to managing COVID-19 in this commitment. The health, wellbeing and safety of the children in our care is of paramount importance. We keep our centres COVIDSafe by:
Youth & Community
We’re here to ensure young people and members of the community maintain connection, strength and resilience in their mind and body – especially through challenging times. We keep our youth and community programs COVIDSafe because the wellbeing of young people is at the heart of everything we do and core to our purpose as an organisation. We do this by:
- Ensuring all our educators have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine – as is mandatory for anyone working in childcare.
- Everyone entering a Y OSHC or Vacation Care centre must check in using the Service NSW QR code.
- Having regularly updated COVIDSafe plans that we register with relevant authorities, schools and communities in which we operate.
- Having all our educators trained in COVID safe practices.
- Complying with mask wearing stipulations, and asking the families using our services to do the same.
- Cleaning our sites in accordance with our COVIDSafe plans and public health recommendations.
- Serving food and programming activities in a COVIDSafe way.
- Supporting our teams to be upfront if they are feeling unwell, to go and get tested and not return to work until they have a negative test result.
- Maintaining physical distancing in accordance with public health orders – that includes physical distancing in our centres, at drop off and pick up.
- Advising parents politely if COVIDSafe practices are not being maintained and communicating this with the schools and communities in which we operate.
- Communicating with the families using our Outside School Hours Care and Vacation Care as and when regulations, billing cycles and access changes in compliance with public health orders.
- Activating swift shutdown procedures in the event that there is a COVID-19 infection at one of our centres, and communicating with all stakeholders as a matter of urgency and on the advice of NSW Health.
People working at the Y NSW
People work at the Y NSW because they want to make a positive community impact. Being responsible about COVID-19 safety is a big part of that. Here’s how we champion COVID safety at the Y:
- We encourage people working at the Y to get two doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine.
- Everyone entering a Y office or centre must check in using the Service NSW QR code.
- Wherever possible, our teams are encouraged to work from home.
- If teams have to work at a recreation centre, or in an office, we ask that they wear masks and maintain a COVIDSafe physical distance in accordance with current public health orders.
- If our team members feel unwell, we ask them to get tested as soon as possible, to stay home and self isolate until they have a negative COVID-19 result. We also tell them to stay home, rest up, recover and get better. That’s why we have sick leave.
- We provide hand sanitiser and cleaning materials to ensure we keep ourselves, and the spaces in which we work, hygienic.
- We take COVID-19 seriously and have a ‘we’re in this together’ spirit, because we know if we all do the right thing, we stand a better chance of staying healthy, getting on with life and work as we love it.