Why Complete and Up to Date Immunisation is Needed Before Enrolling Your Kids in Kindergarten

23 April 2020

Immunisation is important since vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles or mumps, can have serious health consequences for young children and others in the community. The child care and classroom environment, where children are in close proximity to each other, allows diseases to spread quickly between children who are not fully vaccinated. Other visitors such as parents and other family members, are also at risk if they are not vaccinated. You can help protect your child by ensuring his or her vaccinations are up-to-date.

Immunisation Basics

When enrolling your child into a child care service, community kindergarten or school, you need to provide your child’s current Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) Immunisation History Statement as part of enrolment documentation. The statement must be dated within 2 months of the date of application for enrolment. Child care services and schools may be requested to report the immunisation information of children enrolled, to the Department of Health.

No Jab No Play Regulation

Your child’s immunisation status must be ‘up to date’ according to their AIR Immunisation History Statement to be permitted to enrol into long day care, family day care, pre-kindergarten or kindergarten. Regulations support these places of education and care to limit or prevent the spread of vaccine-preventable notifiable infectious disease. Parents/guardians are legally obliged to provide their child’s AIR Immunisation History Statement at enrolment into a child care service, kindergarten or school. This includes enrolling your child into: a child care service (long day care and family day care services only),  pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, pre-primary, secondary school and a new school.

If your child is enrolling into child care (long day care and family day care services, only), pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, it is particularly important that you provide your child’s AIR Immunisation History Statement to meet immunisation requirements for enrolment under the No Jab No Play legislation.

Immunisation Protects the Children

Generally schools also need to know which children are not fully immunised for their age in order to protect the children in their care. For example, children whose immunisation status is ‘not up to date’ may need to be excluded during an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease. Regulations under the Public Health Act 2016 (WA) also require persons in charge of child care services, kindergartens and schools to share immunisation-related information with the Department of Health, upon request. With this information, the Department of Health can support the families of under-vaccinated children to ensure these children get fully vaccinated, through their local immunisation providers.

 

Ensuring a complete and up to date immunisation is highly essential especially in caring for every children in kindergarten. For more information regarding its advantages, contact us at Gower Street Kindergarten. We promise to ensure the development of each child’s physical, emotional, social, and intellectual skills so that they can grow and explore their identity in a community that celebrates diversity.