On 24 September, ABC journalist Tom Hartley released an article and report on the ABC 7.30 about the failures of the COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme.
Read Tom’s article online — Thousands of Australians fighting ‘cruel’ battle for COVID vaccine injury compensation — or watch the video report below:
In addition to the interviews shown with Chris Nemeth, Kathleen Kelly and Tanya Neilson, Tom conducted two interviews with Rado, Naomi and Michelle from COVERSE, as well as collecting from us some of the extensive evidence that we have collated over the past 4 years – including a copy of the UNSW and COVERSE preprint on the misalignment of the COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme, and copies of our government submissions. Tom was very engaged with the research he was doing and demonstrated a high level of awareness in regard to the meaning behind the statistical information we were giving him.
The report and story that Tom presented demonstrated some of this knowledge, but as many of you have commented to us since, there was much that he was forced to leave out due to continued censorship and fear in the media regarding publishing of anything that could be misconstrued as misinformation about COVID-19 vaccinations.
In response to this, we are encouraging as many people who are able, to write to ABC 7.30 to provide evidence of:
- The number of people who have suffered an ongoing adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccination.
- Public interest and support for continued stories on this topic.
- Public data that should be included when discussing this topic.
The link for your response is here: www.abc.net.au/news/programs/730/about-contact
Things to note before writing your response:
- There is only a small space available to put a response and it can be difficult to type and think in such a small space. It may be easier to type your response into notes, Word or Google Docs first and then copy and paste the text into the response space.
- It is our experience with public responses to media that they do not generally reply to feedback. Please do not be disappointed if this is your experience. It has also been our experience that journalists use this feedback as a way of collecting personal stories and evidence to help them build a case from which they can pitch follow-up stories.
- We have created some basic ideas that might help you in creating your response. Choose some of the things from this list as you probably will not have room to include all the information and sometimes short/punchy information is more impactful than lengthy details.
Basic ideas for your response
Write something positive about the story:
- Thank Tom for showing journalist integrity in bringing the story
- Write something about how the story touched you or people that you know.
Share some of your personal experiences:
- Give a brief overview of your own ongoing adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccination
- Explain if you were or were not able to apply for the compensation scheme and the reasons for that
- If you did apply for the Scheme – briefly describe what your experience of that has been
- Describe what life is like for you now – the financial pressures; the emotional strain; the pressure on family and friends.
- Describe how this experience has made you feel about the government, Services Australia, the way society treats people with adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines.
Let him know if you would willing to be interviewed and under what conditions you would be willing to do that. Give your contact details
October is Vaccine Injury Awareness month which makes it an opportune time to continue a focus on this important issue.
Share some data or information that could be included in further stories about the compensation scheme and those suffering adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccination
Below are some ideas:
- Almost ¼ of all medicine, vaccine and biological therapy reaction reports collected by the TGA since 1971 is attributed to the COVID-19 vaccines. (source: daen.tga.gov.au)
- The Database of Adverse Event Notifications indicates that there have been over 140,000 reports related to Covid 19 vaccinations. (source: daen.tga.gov.au)
- Over 22,000 of those reports were of serious adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. (source: daen.tga.gov.au)
- When the COVID-19 Vaccination Compensation Scheme was first announced in 2021, 10,000 people registered their interest. (source: More than 10,000 Aussies plan to claim for Covid injuries under the government’s no-fault indemnity scheme)
- The Australian Government has spent $18b on COVID treatments. (source: Australia’s COVID-10 vaccine agreements)
- They allocated $41.8m to spend on ‘community activity’ promoting COVID-19 vaccines in 2022-2023. (source: Government response to the Review of COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatment Purchasing and Procurement)
- When the Covid 19 Vaccination Compensation Scheme closed on 30 September 2024, it had only spent a reported $32m to compensate those found eligible through the COVID-19 Vaccination Scheme. (source: Australia’s COVID vaccine compensation scheme is closing. Here’s how much it has paid out)
- In 2024 the Senate inquiry into the Vaccine Indemnity Bill 2023 recommended that the Government undertake a review of the COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme. This review has not been undertaken. In the discussion surrounding this recommendation, the committee acknowledged the problems with the COVID-19 vaccine injury compensation scheme, noting that the burden of severe adverse reactions should not just fall on the those who have suffered an adverse reaction, and recommend the Australian Government ‘consider the merits of a national no-fault vaccine injury compensation scheme as part of the National Immunisation Strategy’. (source: report, Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (Vaccine Indemnity) Bill 2023, Recommendation 1)
- There are 4,300+ peer reviewed papers on harms from the COVID-19 vaccines. (source: coverse.org.au/science)
- The pre-print on the administrative burden of the compensation scheme, written in collaboration with COVERSE and UNSW (with foreword by Dr Monique Ryan) demonstrates that between 97-99% of people who have suffered an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccinations were ineligible for compensation through the government scheme. (source: coverse.org.au/2024/08/compensation-scheme-misalignment)
- In a recent review of COVID-19 vaccination compensation schemes from around the world, Australia was ranked 4th lowest out of 14 nations, with New Zealand being ranked 4th highest on a descending order scale of Review Approval Rate. New Zealand has approved 1,769 claims, in comparison to the larger population of Australia only approving 443. (source: Comparative analysis of fourteen COVID-19 vaccine injury compensation systems and claim approval rates, doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.126830)
Donations
COVERSE is run as an independent charity, not receiving funding from any government sources. As such, donations are always most welcome and necessary if we are to be able to continue and expand our role. Because we have no paid employees and no office or associated costs, your donations will be able to be put 100% directly towards the work that we do.
COVERSE is a registered charity in Australia (ABN 62 661 834 493), and is endorsed as a deductible gift recipient. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. All contributions go towards activities that support and advocate for Australians living with ongoing health problems resulting from an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine.
As well as making individual donations, COVERSE is registered with the PayPal Giving Fund which allows you to encourage further donations by running individual campaigns on PayPal, Facebook or GoFundMe.
Thank you to all who have supported us through financial donations.
