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Childhood Immunisation Coverage Rates

Childhood immunisation coverage is the percentage of children in Australia who have had all the vaccines recommended for their age in the National Immunisation Program Schedule. Monitoring these statistics lets us keep track of how protected we are against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Our quality improvement page has more information on practical ways your practice can contribute to improving these statistics for your practice and our region.


Childhood Immunisation coverage data in CESPHN region

Childhood immunisation coverage data

The latest data on childhood immunisation coverage by Primary Health Network (PHN) and Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3) for all children and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (for the period 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2023) is available on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.

PHN Childhood immunisation coverage data – June 2023 annualised data

NSW childhood immunisation coverage data by SA3 – June 2023 annualised data

The latest data: December 2023 annualised data

Immunisation Team Coverage Rates Dec 23

 

Year 1 year old 2 year old 5 year old
Dec-15 92.44 88.72 91.51
Dec-16 93.08 89.44 91.69
Dec-17 93.24 88.22 92.14
Dec-18 93.72 89.29 92.60
Dec-19 93.79 90.42 92.43
Dec-20 94.64 91.00 92.58
Dec-21 95.37 92.17 93.07
Dec-22 95.06 92.61 92.46
Dec-23 93.96 91.23 92.48

 

Data Source: Department of Health Childhood immunisation coverage data Childhood immunisation coverage data

CESPHN COVERAGE DATA

CESPHN childhood immunisation coverage ranked against other PHNs

There are 31 Primary Health Networks (PHN) in Australia.

Immunisation Team Coverage Cesphn Ranking Til Dec 23

 

Year 1 year old 2 year old 5 year old
Dec-15 25 29 28
Dec-16 21 28 28
Dec-17 27 30 27
Dec-18 23 26 29
Dec-19 24 24 30
Dec-20 20 27 30
Dec-21 8 19 29
Dec-22 12 13 28
Dec-23 12 18 27

Data Source: Department of Health Childhood immunisation coverage data Childhood immunisation coverage data

Method to calculate childhood immunisation coverage rates

Quarterly childhood coverage rates are calculated by:

  • Determining which children should be include in each age cohort, and
  • Determining the ‘Fully Immunised’ status for all children in each cohort.

Coverage rates are then calculated as being the children in a cohort that are ‘Fully Immunised’ as a proportion of all children in that cohort.

Determining age cohort

A child belongs to a specific age cohort (e.g. five year olds) if they turned that age between three and six months before the end of the reporting period.

For example, for someone to be included in the five year olds cohort in the June 2021 quarter, they must have turned five between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021 i.e. they must have been born between 1 January 2016 and 31 March 2016.

Determining ‘Fully Immunised’ status

When determining whether a child is ‘Fully Immunised’, the following tables show the vaccinations that are assessed for each age cohort. A child is considered to be ‘Fully Immunised’ if all vaccinations for the cohort have been recorded in the AIR by the end of the reporting period.

One year olds

Vaccine Requirement to be considered ‘Fully Immunised’
DTP Diphtheria dose 3 + Tetanus dose 3 + Pertussis dose 3
Polio Polio dose 3
Hib Haemophilus type B (Pathway A*) dose 3
or
Haemophilus type B (Pathway B*) dose 2
Hep B Hepatitis dose 3
Pneumo Pneumococcal dose 2

Two year olds

Vaccine Requirement to be considered ‘Fully Immunised’
DTP Diphtheria dose 4 + Tetanus dose 4 + Pertussis dose 4
Polio Polio dose 3
Hib Haemophilus type B (Pathway A*) dose 4, or
Haemophilus type B (Pathway A*) dose 3 (if given greater than 11½ months of age)
or
Haemophilus type B (Pathway B*) dose 3, or dose 4**
Hep B Hepatitis B dose 3
Pneumo Pneumococcal dose 3
MMR Measles dose 2 + Mumps dose 2 + Rubella dose 2
Men Meningococcal C dose 1
Var Varicella dose 1

Five year olds

Vaccine Requirement to be considered ‘Fully Immunised’
DTP Diphtheria dose 5 + Tetanus dose 5 + Pertussis dose 5
or
Diphtheria dose 4 + Tetanus dose 4 + Pertussis dose 4 (if given after 3.5 years of age)
Polio Polio dose 4

Notes

* The vaccines used to determine the appropriate Hib Pathway (A or B) are as follows:

  • Pathway A: ActHIB, Hexaxim, Hiberix, HibTITER, Infanrix Hexa, Menitorix, Pediacel, ProHIBit, Poliacel
  • Pathway B: Comvax, Generic HIB, PedvaxHIB.

** Both Dose 3 and Both 4 are included in Pathway B for two year olds to account for previous changes to Hib rules.

Source: Department of Health and Aged Care website, updated August 2021

Reports, Research and Vaccine Coverage Analysis

Grattan Institute 7/2024: Patchy protection – How to boost GPs’ patient vaccination rates

This report sheds new light on how to better support GPs by looking deeper into patterns of vaccination rates.

AIWH 7/2024: Immunisation and vaccination

This article looks at the impact of vaccination in Australia and immunisation coverage rates.

NCIRS 12/2023: Vaccination coverage in children continues to decline

This report shows vaccination coverage in children has continued to decrease since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for further targeted strategies to increase vaccine uptake.

NCIRS 11/2023: The National Vaccination Insights project

National surveillance of drivers of under-vaccination in Australian children aged under 5 years

Childhood immunisation coverage for Australia

The Department of Health and Aged Care data tables show the percentage of children fully immunised at one, two and five years of age. The data are for the most recent period available (annual period ending June 2024) and include the percentages for Australia as a whole and each state and territory.

The data show the proportion of children fully immunised at one, two and five years of age according to the National Immunisation Program Schedule.

A full description of the methodology used can be found in Communicable Diseases Intelligence 1998, volume 22, issue 3 (pages 36 to 37).

One year olds

This data table is for the one year old cohort (12 to less than 15 months old).

Analysis of data: The rolling annualised percentage of all children ‘fully immunised’ by 12 months of age is 92.82%.

For individual antigens due by 12 months of age, all states and territories achieved coverage greater than or equal to 91.68%.

State % DTP % Polio % HIB % Hep B % Pneumo % Fully Immunised
ACT 96.02 96.06 95.83 96.42 97.10 95.44
NSW 93.54 93.53 93.43 94.09 95.05 92.98
VIC 94.03 94.02 93.89 94.46 95.58 93.43
QLD 92.30 92.29 92.26 93.02 94.19 92.04
SA 93.79 93.77 93.65 94.64 95.17 93.24
WA 92.06 92.04 91.99 93.12 94.43 91.59
TAS 94.96 94.93 94.93 95.00 95.97 94.32
NT 91.78 91.68 91.68 94.27 95.69 91.44
AUS 93.32 93.30 93.22 93.95 95.01 92.82

Two year olds

This data table is for the two year old cohort (24 to less than 27 months old).

Analysis of data: The rolling annualised percentage of all children ‘fully immunised’ by 24 months of age is 91.10%.

Coverage for individual antigens due by 24 months of age was 90.63% or above in all states and territories.

State % DTP % Polio % HIB % Hep B % MMR % Pneumo % MenC % Varicella % Fully Immunised
ACT 95.14 97.71 95.89 97.82 95.31 96.84 96.92 95.61 94.19
NSW 92.12 95.81 93.26 95.99 92.49 94.39 94.86 92.69 91.15
VIC 92.80 96.38 94.04 96.51 93.26 95.12 95.47 93.50 91.67
QLD 91.40 95.00 92.65 95.08 91.96 93.73 94.15 92.14 90.64
SA 92.80 95.83 93.55 95.95 92.96 94.73 95.09 93.19 91.57
WA 90.63 95.43 92.24 95.60 91.24 93.85 94.54 91.30 89.59
TAS 93.77 96.44 94.44 96.40 93.93 95.69 95.67 94.11 92.37
NT 91.90 97.12 93.70 97.34 92.88 96.39 96.39 92.88 90.76
AUS 92.10 95.81 93.31 95.94 92.55 94.49 94.92 92.74 91.10

Five year olds

This data table is for the five year old cohort (60 to less than 63 months old).

Analysis of data: The rolling annualised percentage of all children ‘fully immunised’ by 60 months of age for Australia is 93.85%.

Coverage for individual antigens due by 60 months was greater than or equal to 91.66% in all states and territories.

State % DTP % Polio % Fully Immunised
ACT 95.84 95.86 95.63
NSW 94.25 94.23 94.04
VIC 95.03 95.03 94.82
QLD 92.83 92.82 92.67
SA 95.10 95.17 94.90
WA 92.91 92.89 92.64
TAS 94.20 93.88 93.80
NT 91.99 91.66 91.43
AUS 94.06 94.05 93.85
Source: Department of Health and Aged Care, updated September 2024