Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to support this legislation, the Australian Immunisation Register Bill 2015 and cognate bill, that further strengthens Australia's immunisation regime by improving our registration system and essentially extending the successful childhood immunisation register to a lifelong register.

Immunisation rates are something that Australia cannot afford to become complacent about. It is quite incredible to think that childhood immunisation rates were around 52 per cent when the coalition government came to office in 1996. We worked hard to improve those rates and get them to around 90 per cent, where they have remained fairly steady. We also introduced vaccination programs for new vaccines like the HPV vaccination for school-aged females. In fact, it was the former Prime Minister, the member for Warringah, who, as health minister, introduced this vaccine and other measures to improve vaccination rates. They are part of his substantial and positive legacy of service, and I thank him for that.

Rates of immunisation matter not just for individuals but for the benefit of our community as a whole. The concept of herd community means that if vaccination rates fall below a certain point it becomes harder to stop a major outbreak, which will potentially infect people who are unable to be immunised. These include children who are too young to be vaccinated, people with immune system problems and those who are too ill to receive vaccines. So maintaining high immunisation levels is vital to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our community. The proportion of the population which must be immunised in order to achieve herd immunity varies for each disease but can be up to 95 per cent for some highly infectious diseases. The underlying principle is the same: once enough people are protected, they help to protect vulnerable members of the community by reducing the spread of disease. The herd immunity threshold for measles is somewhere between 83 and 94 per cent. For whooping cough it is between 92 and 94 per cent. Nationally, Australia sits at 94 per cent for measles and 92 per cent for whooping cough. However, in parts of Australia, including the Blue Mountains, the Sunshine Coast, inner Brisbane, inner Sydney, Adelaide and Darwin, the rates have fallen below 85 per cent for five-year-olds. On the Far North Coast of New South Wales the rates are under 85 per cent in all three age groups.

So there are sections of our community where the herd immunisation rates are well below what is required to stop a major outbreak. This is why our government acted decisively to further improve rates with the No Jab, No Pay policy. From 1 January 2016 conscientious objection is being removed as an exemption category for childcare payments and the Family Tax Benefit Part A end-of-year supplement. Immunisation requirements for the payment of Family Tax Benefit Part A end-of-year supplement will also be extended to include children of all ages. Existing exemptions on medical or religious grounds will continue. However, a religious objection will be available only when the person is affiliated with a religious group where the governing body has a formally registered objection approved. This means that vaccine objectors will not be able to access these government payments. The new policy will tighten up the rules and reinforce the importance of immunisation and protecting public health, especially for children. This policy clearly reflects the value to our community of ensuring that immunisation rates remain as high as possible. Parents need to know that vaccinating their children is a clear responsibility that must be fulfilled in order to access government payments.

The overwhelming benefit of immunisation cannot be disputed. Vaccination is considered the most significant public health intervention in the last 200 years, providing a safe and efficient way to prevent the spread of many diseases that cause hospitalisation, serious ongoing health conditions and sometimes death.

I have been fortunate in my role as Assistant Minister for Science and previously as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science to meet with many of our scientists and researchers, including those working in the field of immunology. Australia certainly has a very proud record when it comes to health and medical science research and development. The success of vaccines to date has largely been due to their impact on acute infectious diseases, like polio and influenza. However, the future will see scientists focusing on the prevention of chronic diseases, like cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's. Indeed, the HPV vaccine developed here in Australia by Professor Ian Frazer has really sparked the hunt for other cancer vaccines, leading to increased investment and renewed public expectations. Current vaccines protect against two types of virus which cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers. The future of immunology is certainly fascinating and full of potential. It is of course one of the many STEM disciplines we need to be encouraging and supporting.

As I mentioned previously, this legislation will strengthen the way we record immunisations and therefore our procedures for ensuring that people are fully immunised. The scope of our two current immunisation registers will be broadened. The Australian Childhood Immunisation Register will be expanded to become the Australian Immunisation Register, which will capture all vaccines given from birth to death through general practice and community clinics. The ACIR currently records vaccinations given to children aged less than seven years. It will be expanded in two stages. From January 2016 it will expand to collect and record vaccinations given to young individuals under the age of 20 years, enabling implementation of the government's No Jab, No Pay budget measure. From September 2016 it will be expanded further to cover all vaccinations from birth to death given through general practice and community clinics, supporting the addition of the zoster virus vaccine to the national immunisation program for persons aged 70 years.

At the moment the coverage of vaccines given to adults is difficult to gauge, as no comprehensive national data is collected for these vaccines. A whole-of-life Australian immunisation register will allow vaccination records from multiple providers to be recorded in the one register, which will allow accurate assessment of whether an adult requires a vaccination rather than relying on patient recall, which is notoriously unreliable. A national register will also allow vaccination providers to take swift action to provide vaccinations when required. Accurate monitoring of vaccine uptake can also assist in identifying areas of low coverage within Australia, including those at greater risk of infection during an outbreak. Targeted information can help boost immunisation rates in these areas. Vaccination reminder services and proactive follow-up by vaccination providers will allow people to be contacted when they are due or overdue for their vaccinations. The register will also enable them to be contacted if a booster vaccination is required in the future.

As I mentioned earlier, this bill also expands the National HPV Vaccination Program Register to become the Australian School Vaccination Register, which will capture the adolescent vaccinations given through school programs from the start of the 2017 school year. The HPV register currently only records recipients of the HPV vaccine. Other adolescent vaccinations administered through the schools program that would be captured in the Australian School Vaccination Register include chickenpox and the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis—whooping cough—booster.

Of course, the establishment of these registers and the No Jab, No Pay policies are just part of our budget commitment to improve immunisation levels. We are also providing an additional incentive payment to doctors and other immunisation providers who identify children who are more than two months overdue for their vaccinations and catch them up. This will be paid on top of the existing payment doctors receive to deliver the vaccinations. We are also developing a range of communication activities, tools and resources to increase awareness and understanding of the National Immunisation Program and to address parents' concerns regarding immunisation, including dispelling common myths. Specifically, we will also develop tools to assist doctors in having important conversations with their patients who may have concerns. Of course, all of these measures are just part of our overall commitment to health, which totals over $69.4 million in the 2015-16 budget.

I know that our government, with its renewed sense of purpose, will continue to be one that delivers practical benefits to ensure the ongoing improvement of health services in the community. Unlike the Labor Party, which offers nothing but scare campaigns and trumped up figures that never would have been delivered, we will continue to deliver practical benefits and ensure a more effective and efficient health system. I am very pleased to support this bill, which is a vital part of our plan to strengthen immunisation rates and therefore improve health outcomes for Australia. I commend this bill to the House.

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