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Government to push ahead with mandatory vaccination reporting Bill
Should the changes pass, providers will face a $6660 penalty for not reporting newly administered vaccines to the Australian Immunisation Register.
Currently, the recording of vaccinations on the Australian Immunisation Register is encouraged, not mandatory.
The proposed amendment, tabled in Parliament earlier this week by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, would compel GPs and other vaccine providers to report all newly administered vaccines to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).
Currently, the recording of vaccinations on the AIR is encouraged, rather than mandatory, which has resulted in vast under-reporting from some sectors and been identified as an area of ‘great concern’ by the RACGP.
A public submission signed by former Acting RACGP President Associate Professor Ayman Shenouda was broadly supportive of the amendments, but did express concerns regarding punitive compliance measures, such as fines, aimed at increasing reporting rates.
‘There are many reasons which may impact on a GP’s ability to report a vaccine to [the] AIR; temporary technological failure or limitations, lack of consent from the patient, or workforce shortages,’ Associate Professor Shenouda wrote.
‘GPs and general practices must not be penalised or prevented from providing future vaccines under these circumstances.
‘Instead, the focus should be on identifying the reason for under-reporting and finding solutions to improve reporting levels.’
However, despite these reservations, the changes – which have bipartisan support – include provisions for a civil penalty of ‘30 penalty units’ (equivalent to $6660) should the provider not report ‘within the period prescribed by the rules and in the manner prescribed by the rules’.
Upon tabling the Bill in Parliament, Minister Hunt said the proposed changes will ensure Australians can access their vaccine history through the ‘safe and secure’ AIR.
‘The need for the Australian Immunisation Register Amendment (Reporting) Bill 2020 arose from the need to provide Australians with information about their immunisation history, to support the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine and the ongoing administration of the NIP [National Immunisation Program],’ he said.
‘There is currently no statutory mechanism by which the Government can require vaccination providers to report all vaccines administered. Without such a mechanism on which to rely, the Government will be unable to enforce the mandatory reporting of COVID-19 vaccines administered, once a vaccine becomes available for clinical use.
‘The amendments in the Bill will support Australians’ health and wellbeing by improving reporting to the AIR to better inform vaccine projections, purchasing, delivery and program performance, and analyses of vaccine effectiveness and safety, which will be particularly important for the COVID-19 vaccines.
‘The details of the reporting obligations, including who is obliged to report and what information is to be reported in what time frames, will be prescribed in the Australian Immunisation Register rules to be made under this Bill.’
Minister Hunt also indicated that civil penalties will likely only be pursued as a last resort when trying to tackle non-compliance.
‘It is conceivable that the vaccination providers who have failed to report a single vaccination event and are otherwise compliant with legislation are likely to have experienced isolated issues,’ he said.
‘In such circumstances education and support will be provided in the first instance.
‘For those vaccination providers not reporting any vaccines to the AIR and who do not undertake behavioural change even after education and support is provided, more serious compliance action, such as a civil penalty, could be considered.’
He also stated that the Department of Health is working with Services Australia and the Australian Digital Health Agency on system enhancements designed to ensure providers are able to ‘easily meet’ their obligations under the new arrangements.
Associate Professor Shenouda had previously expressed concerns about adding to GP workloads and called for more funding to support the implementation of the proposed changes.
‘GPs will need time to discuss these issues with their patients, and obtain consent, prior to uploading any information to AIR,’ he said.
‘This presents an additional cost that will need to be supported by Government. It cannot be absorbed by general practice.’
It has not yet been announced whether any additional funding will be forthcoming.
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