Informing the design of a whole of life immunisation register for Australia.

INTRODUCTION

In 2016, Australia launched a whole life immunisation register, the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), building on a universal childhood register established in 1997. Immunisation Information Systems are well established in Europe, the US and elsewhere. However, a national system covering immunisation across the lifespan, with complete capture of the population and satisfactory data quality, is rare.

METHODS

A national workshop was convened in 2016 with key stakeholders from the government, new and existing vaccine users, and vaccine providers to review the ideal features of the AIR to ensure optimal effectiveness. This workshop focused on the functionality needed to identify population groups newly included in the register and support the achievement of high immunisation coverage in these groups eligible for National Immunisation Program vaccines.

RESULTS

Key recommendations included the need for bidirectional data flow between the AIR and providers; systematic approaches to the capture and recording of accurate and complete data to ascertain important denominators for subpopulations, includingAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, medical risk factors, occupation, ethnicity, country of birth, and vaccines given during pregnancy; linkage with other government datasets including notifiable diseases; the capture of adverse events following immunisation; ease of access by patients, providers; and by researchers.

CONCLUSIONS

Some recommendations from the workshop have informed the development and future utility of the AIR. Some recommendations from the workshop have been integrated into the current iteration of the AIR, which is more important than ever given the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines. The accuracy and validity of data have subsequently improved through data entry controls, data integrity checks and reporting requirements. Access to AIR data for research remains protracted and costly, limitingresearch potential.