St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Victoria fined $150,000 after Covid outbreak killed 45
An aged care home at the center of a deadly Covid outbreak has been fined $150,000 after admitting it failed to ensure staff were properly trained.
St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Victoria was blamed by workplace regulator WorkSafe after 45 residents died from Covid-related complications in one month in 2020.
Faulkner’s not-for-profit organization returned to the District Court of Victoria for sentencing on Tuesday morning after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to maintain a safe working environment.
Judge Trevor Wraight, who sentenced and imposed a $150,000 fine, said WorkSafe’s case was “limited to its failure to adequately train its employees” while many residents died.
“The evidence suggests the company was aware of the need to protect residents and staff,” he said.
“My view is that St Basil’s was well aware of the risk… there were weaknesses in the system here which led to five employees not receiving appropriate training.”
The first confirmed Covid case arrived on July 9, and by July 15, when all staff and residents were tested, dozens of cases had been identified.
The aged care home held five training sessions for staff from external medical professionals between March and June 2020 and worked to update its policies and procedures for dealing with Covid.
But the court was told five staff did not attend any of these sessions and not all staff working at the facility understood the appropriate precautions.
Judge Wraight said in his view this failure amounted to a “relatively serious breach” of workplace safety laws.
He acknowledged that the facility had taken steps to prepare for the Covid outbreak and had continued to work to ensure failures did not occur again in the five years since.
