Australia’s trusted immunisation experts
03 December 2024 | NewsNew findings link access and acceptance barriers with partial childhood vaccinationRead the full article
Health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians continue to be a priority for the Australian Government and state and territory governments.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly more affected by low birth weight, chronic diseases, trauma resulting in early deaths, and poor social and emotional health due to systemic inequities and barriers.
Historically, immunisation has been a simple, timely, effective and affordable way to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health – and it remains so. Immunisation has delivered positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of all ages.
While immunisation coverage rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have improved, timeliness of vaccination remains a priority.
NCIRS is committed to contributing meaningful solutions designed by and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The National Indigenous Immunisation Coordinator position exists to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander immunisation is a high priority and a core focus at NCIRS.
The position also works to raise the profile of related immunisation barriers and achievements and to promote relevant, meaningful and sustainable immunisation initiatives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The NCIRS National Indigenous Immunisation Coordinator is supported by NCIRS Aboriginal Population Health Trainees (APHTI).
More information about the APHTI role at NCIRS can be found here.
NCIRS is a leader in the use of surveillance data to evaluate and track trends in morbidity due to vaccine preventable diseases among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
NCIRS produces regular reports on vaccine preventable diseases and vaccination coverage in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These reports include relevant routinely collected data on disease notifications, hospitalisations and deaths and on childhood and adult vaccination coverage.
The reports, which are modelled on comprehensive national vaccine preventable disease surveillance reports, also produced by NCIRS, provide a comparison of vaccine preventable disease burden and vaccination coverage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians.
The fifth edition of the report, covering the years 2016–2019, was published in the Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal in November 2023.
These reports have also been modified for use by Aboriginal health workers and other staff members without clinical experience who are working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. The Vaccination for Our Mob (VFOM) report covers each disease that can be prevented by a vaccine available under the National Immunisation Program. It outlines how the disease is spread, its signs and symptoms, who is most affected by it, how common it is and the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are vaccinated against it.
