A performance audit of the Department of Health’s improvement and management of immunisation coverage across Australia has found it to be ‘largely effective’.
The Audit noted that funding for the National Immunisation Program (NIP) had increased by $488 million in the 2021-22 year so far.
In his Report, Improving Immunisation Coverage, Auditor-General, Grant Hehir said that through the NIP vaccines against 17 diseases were provided to eligible people.
“National, State and Territory arrangements for vaccination are articulated in the National Partnership on Essential Vaccines (NPEV) agreement,” Mr Hehir said.
“The NPEV agreement outlines funding and delivery arrangements, roles and responsibilities of the Australian Government and States and Territories and a performance framework.”
He said the Department had implemented, or was implementing, most of the key actions in the 2013-18 and 2019-24 national immunisation strategies.
“Reported immunisation coverage rates have improved between 2012 and 2020 for all children at ages one and five years,” Mr Hehir said.
“However, Health does not gain assurance about the quality of the data it uses for monitoring and reporting immunisation coverage.”
He said methodologies and definitions used for ‘fully immunised’ rates, and the way in which these rates were reported, could lead readers to misinterpret immunisation coverage data.
The Audit made three recommendations related to the Department’s immunisation coverage, all of which were agreed by Health.
The Auditor-General’s 62-page report can accessed at this PS News link and online at this link.
The Audit team was Jennifer Eddie, Elizabeth Robinson, Hugh Balgarnie and Deborah Jackson.
