Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Immunisation Register Bill 2015 and the Australian Immunisation Register (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2015. In doing so, I want to indicate at the outset that Labor strongly supports these bills and in particular their purpose, which is to give us for the first time a truly comprehensive national vaccination register. We are pleased at the opportunity to be able to vote in this place for all-too-rare moves to actually improve health outcomes in Australia from a government that has spent the last two years attacking health.

The existing Australian Childhood Immunisation Register, which was established in 1996, provides accurate data on the immunisation status of all registered children under the age of seven. This, of course, matches the period when children are receiving the intensive schedule of vaccinations so essential for children in their early years. But, clearly, the need for vaccinations does not end at the age of seven.

Medical experts, for example, recommend that whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria be updated every 10 years. Then there are the ever-increasing numbers of vaccines now recommended for adolescents and adults in Australia, such as influenza, pneumococcal, whooping cough for pregnant mothers, shingles for older Australians and HPV for adolescents and young adults.

Against this background, clinicians and public health workers have long advocated the need for much better information on the vaccination status of all Australians, and this bill, therefore, makes two very big changes. The legislation proposes that from 1 January 2016, the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register will expand to collect and record vaccinations given to young adults under the age of 20. Then from September 2016 it will be expanded further to become the national immunisation register, covering all vaccinations given from birth to death through general practice and community clinics.

This will accommodate the addition of Zostavax shingles vaccine to the national immunisation program for persons aged 70. And if unexpected disease outbreaks occur, as there have been recently for whooping cough, with tragic consequences for newborns, or in the event of measles returning to Australia, as has occurred in the US, immunisation registers will be able to help us determine whether they are due to low vaccination coverage and enable better targeted responses.

The bill also replaces the HPV register with the Australian School Vaccination Register. Whereas the HPV register, as its name suggests, only captures administration of the HPV vaccine, the school vaccination register will record other adolescent vaccinations administered through the school. Programs include chickenpox and the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis—whooping cough—booster.

A comprehensive immunisation register is a vital component of any efficient vaccination scheme. Registers are a key tool in improving the performance of immunisation programs. They do this by collecting data on the vaccinations that have been given; generating notices and prompting people to have their next vaccination, booster shots and the like; providing certificates of vaccination; and, importantly, monitoring vaccine coverage, including hotspots across the entire population. Registers allow us to identify deficiencies and to adapt and respond to new and emerging threats.

So, how will this help health experts stay on top of the diseases that threaten the health and welfare of all Australians? The answer is that unexpected disease outbreaks still occur. There is the prospect of measles returning to Australia, as has occurred recently in the United States. Comprehensive immunisation registers will help determine whether it is due to low vaccine coverage and will enable a better and more targeted response.

We know that parents lead busy and complicated lives these days, and in many cases missed vaccinations are due to oversight rather than to a specific objection. The establishment of a national immunisation register of school-based vaccinations will assist all parents to keep their children's immunisations up to date.

This national register will also enable adults to have the information they need to ensure the protection they received as children continues long after their schooling ceases. Diseases like tetanus, diphtheria and, of course, whooping cough are not confined to children. Adults who travel or come into contact with others who do not keep their immunisations up-to-date are just as much at risk as those who have refused to be vaccinated.

Importantly, this bill enables the transfer of data to Centrelink that is necessary to enable the government to effect the No Jab, No Pay measure that encourages parents to have their children immunised. Labor believes that parents should have the final say in making health decisions about their child. But when it comes to immunisation there is a strong public interest in ensuring that children are immunised.

Like many in this place I have been lobbied strongly by opponents of this measure who argue that it is an attack on their rights, and that this amounts to compulsory vaccination. I have no sympathy with that argument. Firstly, parents still have the right not to vaccinate their children; it is just that now if they choose this path, this nation is also now choosing to make its position clear on that decision by no longer paying these parents family tax benefits. So there is no compulsion to vaccinate, just a clear signal that parents should vaccinate. And those who do not will face a financial penalty for choosing not to protect their children, and the people they come into contact with, from the consequences of that decision.

It is not going to be popular with everyone, but it is a necessary initiative. In fact, it is an initiative that Labor took to the last election. We did that for the very simple reason that we believe it is unreasonable for those people to expect the collective benefits of family support payments if they are not themselves contributing to the collective wellbeing of the population as a whole by having themselves and their children vaccinated against preventable diseases. It is for this reason that Labor wholeheartedly supports these changes.

It is important that we continue to improve vaccination rates across the country. We know that passage of the legislation we are debating here today will not end the campaign of misinformation, or suddenly lead to parents who have refused to vaccinate their children racing down to the clinic to get them up to date. But the early figures are promising.

In September last year just over 40,000 Australian children were listed as claiming exemption on the grounds of conscientious objection. That figure has fallen for three consecutive quarters, and at the end of June stood at 34,000—a drop of 15 per cent in just nine months. And this is even before No Jab, No Pay comes into effect. Clearly, even talk of this measure has been enough to persuade some parents, perhaps undecided about immunisation, to end their claim to be conscientious objectors and do the right thing by their children and their community. As a result, the proportion of eligible children claiming exemption has fallen from 1.8 per cent to 1.5 per cent and, once the new regulations come into effect, we expect this trend to continue.

Vaccination rates in Australia have been amongst the best in the world, but we cannot rest on our laurels. Vaccinations are vital to the welfare of all citizens. It is not just about protecting yourself or your child; herd immunity relies on everyone doing the right thing. Labor will work to ensure these changes are implemented in a way that not only increases immunisation rates across the entire community but also targets vulnerable children and does not lead to these children being excluded from early education and care as a result of their parents' decisions. We must also ensure that this is not the be-all and end-all of the work we do to educate and inform the public about the benefits of immunisation. Before they were abolished, Medicare Locals were doing good work to increase immunisation rates in local communities, and I urge the government to ensure that this continues through the Primary Health Networks.

So Labor is pleased to support this all-too-rare move by the government to strengthen our health system and promote, rather than cut, preventative health care. For two years, Labor has stood firm against this government's repeated attempts to place a barrier between patients and primary care through its now four attempts to introduce a GP tax. We have repeatedly called on the government to abandon its disastrous attacks on public hospitals, its cuts to preventative health programs, its cuts to dental programs and its cuts to drug and alcohol services. There are so many other areas of health policy that are now in drastic need of repair, but on this measure, which is clearly a measure that will advance the cause of public health in Australia, Labor is proud to stand and declare our support for improving vaccination in our country.