Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

AUSTRALIAN IMMUNISATION REGISTER BILL 2015

I am pleased to introduce the Australian Immunisation Register Bill 2015.

The Australian Immunisation Register Bill 2015 creates a new, consolidated legislative framework for the establishment and ongoing management of Australian immunisation registers, and expands the scope of our two existing immunisation registers.

These changes implement measures announced in this year ' s Federal Budget as part of the Government ' s focus on improving immunisation rates across Australia, and will complement other Government initiatives, including No Jab, No Pay , and new catch-up incentives to GP ' s and other immunisation providers.

The Coalition has a strong track record when it comes to improving immunisation rates, successfully increasing vaccination rates from 52% in 1996 up to around 90%, and it was the current Prime Minister, as then Health Minister who introduced the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for school aged women in 2007. These new measures build on our successful record.

As I mentioned previously, the scope of our two current immunisation registers will be broadened. The Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) 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. The ACIR will be expanded in two stages. From 1 January 2016, it will expanded 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 (shingles) vaccine to the National Immunisation Program for persons aged 70 years.

Implementing these changes to our national immunisation registers will broaden and improve immunisation data capture to assist recognised vaccin a tion providers to boost coverage rates.

Additionally, this bill expands the National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Program Register (the HPV Register) to become the Australian School Vaccination Register (ASVR), which will capture all adolescent vaccinations given through school programs from the start of the 2017 school year.

The HPV Register currently only captures administration of the HPV vaccine. Other adolescent vaccinations administered through the school programs that would be captured in the Australian Schools Vaccination Register include Varicella (chickenpox) and the Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (whooping cough) booster.

Currently, separate legislation within the Health Insurance Act 1973 and the National Health Act 1953 provide the foundation for how the two national immunisation registers are operated. In this context, it is considered timely to consolidate the two pieces of separate legislation for the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register and Australian School Vaccination Register into a new, single piece of legislation to provide for the ongoing management and data capture for both registers.

This Bill will lay the foundations for future work to move towards an integrated system that captures and reports on all vaccines given in Australia from birth to death, providing a single 'front door' for consumers and immunisation providers.

This Bill provides the framework under which Australian immunisation registers are operated and removes obstacles associated with the appropriate collection of personal information. This includes detailing the provisions in which individuals can access personal information, the type of information collected and including offence provisions that detail the offence generated by unauthorised disclosure of personal information.

The Bill provides for the establishment of the Register and the recording of certain personal information about individuals. The Bill also creates an offence for the unauthorised disclosure of personal information contained within the Register.

The amendments contained within this bill will commence in three stages. From 1 January 2016 the new Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 will commence and it will facilitate the collection of information of 'young individuals' under the age of 20 years to assist the implementation of the Government's No Jab No Pay Budget measure. At the same time, a number of required consequential amendments will be made to other legislation.

Amendments commencing in September 2016 include amendments to the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 to reflect the name change and expansion of the ACIR to the Australian Immunisation Register and the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010. These amendments will accommodate the Government's approval to list zoster virus (shingles) vaccine (Zostavax) on the National Immunisation Program for persons aged 70 years.

Finally, from 1 January 2017 onwards, the Australian Schools Vaccination Register will capture all adolescent vaccinations given through school programmes from the start of the school year.Provisions of the new Bill will apply equally to the Australian Immunisation Register and the Australian School Vaccination Register and Part 9BA of the National Health Act 1953 will be repealed.

Through this Bill, expansion of the National Immunisation Registers and the way they continue to operate in the future will not only benefit the health of individuals; general practitioners and health care providers will have a consistent way in which immunisation records can be obtained for individuals of all ages, not just the young.

AUSTRALIAN IMMUNISATION REGISTER (CONSEQUENTIAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2015

This Bill provides for the Consequential and Transitional Provisions required to support the operation of the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015.

The proposed Act will have amendments that commence in three stages.

Part IVA of the Health Insurance Act 1973 will be repealed, along with associated offence provisions relating to the Register. These offences will be replaced by an offence in the new Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015. Additionally, minor amendments are proposed which will allow the disclosure of Medicare enrolment data to the Register.

Minor amendments to Part 9BA of the National Health Act 1953 will be initiated to refer to a prescribed body within the meaning of the new Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015.

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 will be amended, to provide for information in the registers to be exempt from disclosure under section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 in response to a freedom of information request.

Provided under the amendments commencing 1 January 2016 include changes to the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 to repeal the definition of the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) which links the register to the Health Insurance Act 1973 and refer instead to the Register operated under the new Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015.

Amendments to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 to allow the definition of a 'recognised immunisation provider' to be consistent with the meaning of recognised vaccination provider in the new immunisation register Bill is also proposed to occur from 1 January 2016.

Finally, amendment to the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988, the Human Services (Medicare) Act 1973 and the Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997 are also proposed to prescribe that the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 is a 'designated program Act'.

Amendments commencing later in 2016 include changes to the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 to reflect the name change of the ACIR to become the "Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)" and the provision to be able to collect vaccination information for all individuals regardless of age.

A secondary amendment to the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 is proposed to repeal the definition of ACIR and allow for use and disclosure of health care identifiers for the purposes of uploading information from the Register onto an individual's Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record.

The final transition arrangement proposed is to commence 1 January 2017. From 1 January 2017 onwards, the provisions of the new Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 will apply equally to the Australian Immunisation Register and the Australian School Vaccination Register. Following this expansion Part 9BA of the National Health Act 1953 will be repealed.

The schedules listed in the transitional and consequential arrangements in this Bill will only commence if the Australian Immunisation Registers Bill 2015 obtains Royal Assent.

I move:

That resumption of the debate be made an order of the day for a later hour.

Question agreed to.