Pat Farmer (Macarthur, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Science and Training) Share this | Hansard source

In summing up the National Health Amendment (National HPV Vaccination Program Register) Bill 2007, I firstly thank the members who have spoken on this bill. I would like to thank the member for Gellibrand, the member for Sydney, the member for Moore, the member for Fairfax, who has just finished his speech, the member for Ryan and, most importantly, the member for Riverina—and I say that because the member for Riverina brought up a valid point that I can relate to as a single parent. When my wife passed away, when my children were very young, I found it difficult to locate all the records that my wife had for my son and my daughter for their vaccinations over the years. Like a lot of men, I had left that up to my wife to do, and so of course I had a witch-hunt to try and find the necessary papers. I had to contact my doctors et cetera. One of the things that this bill does is to make sure that it takes that onus away from those situations and assists the family unit, in moments of crisis like that, in having a record of vaccinations that have taken place.

This bill is about vaccination and information. The bill amends the National Health Act 1953 to insert provisions for the establishment and maintenance of the human papilloma virus, or HPV, register to complement the implementation of the National HPV Vaccination Program. The register will collect personal and vaccination information about people who receive HPV vaccine under the HPV program with a view to evaluating in the long term the effectiveness of the vaccine in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer. The HPV register will also facilitate a number of other functions relating to the HPV program and the payment of an administration fee to general practitioners who provide information to the register.

In summary, the legislation will ensure the collection of information which, in addition to evaluating the success of the HPV program in reducing cervical cancer, will also inform the policy direction of the HPV program and government expenditure in the future. It will also benefit individuals participating in the HPV program by providing them with information about their vaccination status, sending notifications when doses of vaccine have been missed and facilitating a recall system for participants in the event that booster doses may be required in the future.

As the father of a 12-year-old girl, I see this bill as being absolutely vital—vitally important not only for my daughter but, indeed, for me and for the rest of my family, my son included, because none of us wants to lose a wife, a daughter or an aunty and none of us wants to lose a close relative when it can be prevented. So this bill shows a vision on behalf of the coalition government—a vision for the future, a vision to monitor the health of young Australians well into the future, well into the years ahead. It is for that reason that I would like to commend this bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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