Immunisation services
Guideline number: QH-GDL-955:2022
Effective date: 4 November 2022
Review date: 4 November 2025
Supersedes: Version 3
On this page:
- Purpose
- Scope
- Principles
- School Immunisation Program
- Managing vaccination data
- Related documents
- Definitions
- Approval
- Version history
1. Purpose
This guideline provides recommendations on best immunisation practice to minimise outbreaks, illness, avoidable hospitalisations and deaths from vaccine preventable diseases.
Hospital and Health Services (HHSs) should strive to achieve the following outcomes:
- immunisation coverage rates maintained and/or improved for specified cohorts and in accordance with the National Partnership Agreement on Essential Vaccines
- HHS immunisation services maintained and/or enhanced
- provide access to free vaccines, and convenient, reliable and high-quality immunisation services for local communities
- immunisation services delivered in response to local community needs
- mass vaccination programs provided during outbreaks, pandemic incidents and major disasters, as required.
2. Scope
This guideline provides information for all Queensland public health system employees (permanent, temporary and casual) and all organisations and individuals acting as its agents (including visiting medical officers and other partners, contractors, consultants and volunteers).
3. Principles
The following key principles are to be considered by HHSs when developing and implementing local immunisation policies, services and other arrangements:
- Protection—maintaining high vaccination rates offers Queensland’s population the best protection against contracting vaccine preventable diseases
- Access—people in Queensland (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, children in care, refugees, and those living in rural/remote communities) have access to government funded vaccines, and convenient, reliable and high-quality immunisation services
- Equity—there are no barriers or prerequisites to immunisation services; national and state immunisation funded vaccines are provided free of charge
- Quality and safety—high quality and safe immunisation services are available and delivered in accordance with governing legislation, policy, agreements and established standards
- Education—providers should receive ongoing clinical advice, education and training on current immunisation recommendations and informed vaccination providers should:
- educate parents, guardians, caregivers and individuals about the benefits of immunisation
- promote immunisation to the general public as having positive health benefits for the individual and the whole community.
- Collaboration—collaboration with key immunisation stakeholders (including the Department of Health) should occur to maintain and improve immunisation coverage rates
- Data—high quality and accurate vaccination data should be routinely analysed, monitored, reported upon (when appropriate) and held on state and national immunisation databases.
4. School Immunisation Program
The Department of Health will provide funding to the HHSs for delivery of the School Immunisation Program (SIP) as outlined in the SIP schedule and in accordance with the SIP HHS funding model. HHSs should:
- ensure the SIP is delivered to eligible students in all state and non-state secondary schools and other schools (e.g special schools) in the HHS's geographic area of responsibility, during each school year according to the Immunisation Schedule Queensland
- provide an annual outcome report detailing immunisation uptake rates achieved through the SIP
- ensure the necessary assets, equipment, materials, services and staff (e.g. purpose-built vaccine refrigerators, vehicles, coolers/portable fridges, resuscitation equipment and disposables) are available to deliver the SIP effectively and efficiently
- ensure SIP service providers comply with the Immunisation Schedule Queensland, the current online edition of the Australian Immunisation Handbook , the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019, the Department’s SIP resource kit for vaccine service providers, and the National vaccine storage guidelines
- ensure “catch-up” vaccination services to students who missed school clinics are offered in various settings including schools and community health/immunisation clinics
- ensure vaccination records and consent forms are kept in accordance with the current Queensland Government Health Sector (Clinical Records) Retention and Disposal Schedule
- record and send all required SIP data to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) ideally within 24 hours and no more than 10 working days of an individual being immunised through the SIP
- participate in regular communication with the Immunisation Program, Department of Health as required
- manage clinical incidents and adverse events
- report all adverse events using the Adverse Events Following Immunisation Reporting Form (PDF 390 kB)
- work with the Department of Health to:
- improve immunisation coverage uptake for the SIP
- improve program delivery.
5. Managing vaccination data
HHSs should:
- analyse Immunise Queensland quarterly follow-up activity reports prepared by the Health Contact Centre and address issues that may be leading to errors with local vaccination data such as:
- incorrect vaccination data
- duplicate records
- incomplete vaccination data.
- routinely interrogate local vaccination data and Immunise Queensland (Health Contact Centre) follow-up activity reports to identify issues that may contribute to children becoming overdue for vaccination or not having recommended additional vaccines such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and medically at-risk children
- assist immunisation providers to follow up children overdue for vaccination, through provider education and information activities
- identify individuals’ vaccination status to assist in the management of outbreaks of vaccine preventable disease
- educate providers on the requirements for providing high quality vaccination data
- provide technical data support to immunisation providers to ensure accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive data is stored and transmitted for individual patient records
- review and respond to regular immunisation coverage data reports provided by Queensland Health
- report vaccination data to AIR
- identify geographical areas and providers with low coverage and undertake data interventions to improve vaccination rates.
6. Related documents
Related or governing legislation, policy and agreements
- Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015
- Medicines and Poisons Act 2019
- Medicines and Poisons (Medicines) Regulation 2021
- Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 (Qld)
- Public Health Act 2005 (Qld)
- Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
- Queensland Immunisation Strategy 2017-22 (PDF 1842 kB)
- Hospital and Health Services Service Agreements
- Extended Practice Authority (Registered Nurses) (PDF 292 kB)
- National Privacy Principles (Privacy Act 1988)
- National Healthcare Agreement
- National Partnership Agreement on Essential Vaccines
- National Agreement on Closing the Gap
Standards, procedures, guidelines
- Australian Immunisation Handbook, current edition (Published online by NHMRC)
- Immunisation Schedule Queensland, current edition
- National Vaccine Storage Guidelines ‘Strive for Five’, current edition
- Guidelines for Managing Adverse Events Following Immunisation
- Guideline for the Storage, Transportation and Handling of Refrigerated Medicines, Vaccines, and Blood in Queensland Health Facilities
- School Immunisation Program: Resource Kit for Vaccine Service Providers (PDF 2718 kB)
- Queensland Government Health Sector (Clinical Records) Retention and Disposal Schedule
- Additional information may be sourced from the Department of Health’s Immunisation Program website or by contacting the Queensland Health Immunisation Program on 3328 9888
Forms and templates
- Adverse Event Following Immunisation – Reporting Form (PDF 390 kB)
- Clinical Sequence of Events Form for School Immunisation Program, refer to the Resource Kit for vaccine service providers (PDF 2718 kB)
- School Immunisation Program Vaccine request form (PDF 1362 kB)
- School Immunisation Program:
- Annual outcome report
- Vaccination consent forms
7. Definitions
| Term | Definition / Explanation / Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
Adverse Event Following Immunisation | An Adverse Event Following Immunisation refers to any untoward medical occurrence that follows immunisation, whether expected or unexpected, and whether triggered by the vaccine or only coincidentally occurring after receipt of a vaccine. The adverse event may be any unfavourable or unintended sign, abnormal laboratory finding, symptom or disease. | The Australian Immunisation Handbook |
Catch-up Vaccinations | Students who miss a dose or doses of vaccine at school are eligible to receive their “catch-up” vaccinations up to the end of the following calendar year. | Department of Health |
Eligible Secondary School Students | Eligible secondary school students are those for whom free vaccine is provided in accordance with the Department of Health. | Department of Health |
Free vaccines | Those vaccines funded for and provided to eligible cohorts as part of the National Immunisation Program (Commonwealth) or targeted state programs. (Administration of the free vaccine may involve a consultation fee if given through General Practice) | Department of Health |
School immunisation uptake rate | The school immunisation uptake rate is defined as: the proportion of vaccinated students of the total student year level cohort for schools that offer a SIP. | Department of Health Immunisation Program |
Childhood immunisation coverage rate | The childhood immunisation coverage rate is defined as: the percentage of children vaccinated in specific age cohorts. The rates are reported regularly by the Australian Immunisation Register and the Department of Health’s Communicable Diseases Branch. | Australian Immunisation Register |
Immunisation Program Nurse | A registered nurse who has successfully completed any of the following:
| Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 |
Immunisation Services | Critical immunisation services provided by HHSs include:
| Department of Health |
Immunisation Schedule Queensland | The Immunisation Schedule Queensland includes both National Immunisation Program funded vaccines and state funded vaccines for identified at risk populations to reduce the incidence of vaccine preventable diseases and provide protection for the community against these diseases. | Department of Health |
Opportunistic Vaccination | Opportunistic vaccination is the practice of checking the vaccination status of all people at every opportunity (admission and throughout care) and vaccinating when appropriate. The Australian Immunisation Register provides vaccination status for whole of life. | Department of Health |
Providers | Providers are individuals, organisations or other entities (including general practitioners, hospitals, community agencies and local councils) registered with the Queensland Department of Health to administer state and commonwealth funded vaccines. | Department of Health |
Specified Cohorts | Specific cohorts include:
| Department of Health |
Vaccine Management | Vaccine management is the system of transporting and storing vaccines within the safe temperature range of +2°C to +8°C. This begins when the vaccine is manufactured, through distribution until the vaccine is administered. | National Vaccine Storage Guidelines: ‘Strive for Five’ Guideline for the storage, transportation and handling of refrigerated medicines and vaccines for all vaccine providers |
8. Approval
Document custodian
Medical Director, Immunisation Program and BBVSTI Unit, Communicable Diseases Branch
Approval officer
General Manager, Queensland Public Health and Scientific Services
Approval date: 4 November 2022
9. Version history
| Version | Date | Prepared by | Comments / reason for update |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 23 June 2014 | Regulatory Instruments Unit | New document |
2 | 3 July 2014 | Communicable Diseases Unit | Minor editorial changes |
3 | 10 May 2019 | Immunisation Program | Revisions of document terminology and Section 6 and 7 to reflect current related documents and terminology. |
4 | October 2022 | Immunisation Program | Revisions of document terminology in Section 4, 6, and 7 to reflect current related document and terminology. Section 5 updated to include the role of the Health Contact Centre in follow up. Deletion of Appendix 1 and Appendix 2. |