The State of Victoria currently boasts the highest vaccination rate for children under five years of age in the country. According to the latest figures from the Australian Immunisation Register, 95.7% of Victorian five-year-olds are fully-vaccinated.
The No Jab – No Play requirements will be ‘ramped up’ next month.
From 1 November 2018, stronger No Jab – No Play regulations in early childhood education and care services will require them to ensure that parents and carers of children attending their service provide the service with an updated immunisation history statement, which proves that their child’s immunisations are up-to-date, twice a year. This is in addition to the original requirement, which has been in force since January 2016, which requires children, who are enrolling in education and care services, to be fully-vaccinated.
The additional No Jab – No Play regulations require parents and carers to provide the education and care service with evidence that their child’s immunisations continue to be up-to-date, while attending the service, at intervals no greater than seven months.
The Department of Education and Training suggests that early childhood education and care services:
- request this information twice per calendar year,
- send out reminders for parents and carers to comply with the maximum seven-month interval, and
- where possible, aligning requests for evidence with existing processes for maintaining up-to-date details for families and children, such as requesting a current immunisation history statement:
- at census data-collection times,
- through the service’s re-enrolment processes, or
- as part of end of financial year activities