Immunisation

An Australian, State and Territory Government initiative, the Immunise Australia Program aims to increase national immunisation rates.

Established in 1997 through the Immunise Australia: Seven Point Plan, the Immunise Australia Program originated from the initiatives of the 1993 National Immunisation Strategy. For more information about the history of the Program, please refer to History of the Immunise Australia Program.

Under the Immunise Australia Program, the Australian Government provides funding to:

State and Territory governments for the purchase of vaccines listed in the National Immunisation Program Schedule;
Medicare Australia for:
- The Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR);
- The General Practice Immunisation Incentives Scheme (GPII); and
- Subsidising individual private consultations involved in immunisation through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

From 1 July 2009 the Commonwealth and the States and Territories entered into a National Partnership Agreement on Essential Vaccines (PDF 683 KB).

As outlined in this agreement the Commonwealth will be responsible for the national procurement of vaccines under the National Immunisation Program.

Further details on future procurement arrangements will be provided in the near future.

A Pre-Request for Tender Industry Briefing (PDF 39 KB) is available for downloading. This briefing was provided to potential tenderers at a teleconference held on 12 November 2009.

For more details about funding see Vaccination funding in Australia from Vaccine Preventable Diseases and Vaccination Coverage in Australia, 2001 to 2002 - Appendix 5 (Communicable Diseases Intelligence Vol 28 Suppl 2).

The Office of Health Protection, within the Department of Health and Ageing is responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of national immunisation policies and programs.

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