Immunisation is generally accepted as being one of the best ways of reducing the likelihood of children being infected by serious diseases, such as whooping cough, hepatitis and polio. While it is not compulsory for you to immunise your child so that they can attend child care, your child care service should be able to provide you with information about immunisation and where you can get your child immunised. They should also have a process for keeping a record of your child’s immunisation status, as well as a procedure for managing the outbreak of a disease listed on the current childhood immunisation schedule.
How can your service support you with your child’s immunisation?
Your child care service should give you current information about the recommended immunisation schedule. This information should be sought from an authority such as Immunise Australia or a medical or early childhood health care professional to ensure that you are given correct and up to date advice. The service may give you this information when you enrol your child in care, or they may display it on a noticeboard or in a parent resource library. If you are having trouble finding information about immunisation it’s a good idea to talk with the educators in your service.
What information do you need to give your service?
To help protect your child’s health and safety, as well as that of other children and adults, your service will need to keep an up to date record of your child’s immunisation status. They may do this by taking a photocopy of your child’s immunisation record or by keeping a checklist of which immunisations your child has had. Even if you have chosen not to immunise your child, your service will need to be aware of this in case there is an outbreak of a vaccine preventable disease. In this situation your service is legally required to exclude any children who are not fully immunised, even if they appear to be well.
Your service may have a regular schedule for requesting that you give them evidence of your child’s current immunisation status, or they may ask you to be responsible for providing them with this information each time your child receives a vaccination.
What if you choose not to immunise your child?
Ultimately it is your decision whether or not to have your child immunised. Each family will need to weigh up the risks associated with immunisation against the potential risk of their child coming into contact with a serious infectious disease. As many parents will know, children are also more likely to come into contact with infectious diseases when they are in child care due to the close contact they have with many other children and adults. This will be important to consider when deciding whether or not to immunise your child.
Families who choose not to immunise their child can still use child care, and you should not be made to feel that you are being judged negatively for your decision by the educators. However, you need to be prepared for the service to ask you to keep your child at home if a vaccine preventable disease is identified or suspected at the service. The period of exclusion will depend on the requirements of your state or territory health department.
To be eligible to have your child care fees reduced through child care benefit (CCB), your child either needs to be fully immunised or you need to provide a certificate from a recognised immunisation provider stating that you have made a conscientious objection to immunising your child.
Practical tips
• Seek advice from other parents about their experience of immunising their child. They may also be able to recommend medical practitioners who they have found to be particularly good with administering vaccinations to children.
• Ask your service about the information they can give you about immunisation and about their policies and procedures.
• If possible, consider having your child immunised on the weekend, or at a time when they are not going to child care the following day, as they may be a little unsettled for a day or so following their vaccination.
• Advise the educators at your service when your child has recently received a vaccination so that they can be aware of monitoring your child for any discomfort or adverse reactions.
• Make sure that you provide your service with up to date information about your child’s immunisation when they ask for it so that you are not a in position of having to keep your child at home unnecessarily if there is an outbreak of a vaccine preventable disease.
Conclusion
Child care services have a duty of care to promote the health and wellbeing of all children in their care. An important aspect of this involves providing you with information about immunisation and supporting you and your child, regardless of whether you choose to immunise your child or not. They also need to have clear procedures for keeping current records of each child’s immunisation (including how this will be kept confidential) and policies on managing an outbreak of a vaccine preventable disease.
References and further reading
• Child Care and Children’s Health. (1997). An information sheet for parents. Immunisation and child care. (Published with Child care and Children’s Health, November 1997, Vol 1(1).
• Immunise Australia. (2010). National Immunisation Program Schedule. Retrieved 4 August, 2010, from http://immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/nips2
• Immunise Australia website: www.immunise.health.gov.au
NCAC is funded by the Australian Government to administer Child Care Quality Assurance in children’s services across Australia. NCAC aims to ensure that all children in child care experience high quality care that best promotes their health, safety, learning and development.
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