Amendments to the Immunisation Register Rule

The National Immunisation Division has provided the below update regarding upcoming amendments to the Australian Immunisation Register Rule 2015 (AIR Rule). 

Under the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015, it is mandatory for all vaccination providers to report the administration of COVID-19, influenza, National Immunisation Program (NIP) and Japanese encephalitis virus vaccines to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

Legislative changes mean that from 1 March 2025, it will be mandatory for all vaccination providers to report to the AIR information about whether an individual was pregnant at the time of vaccine administration.

Maternal immunisation is critical in protecting pregnant women and their babies from serious illness and severe complications from vaccine preventable diseases.

The collection of antenatal data is important as it ensures that the AIR contains a complete and reliable dataset to enable the monitoring of:

• immunisation coverage and administration
• the effectiveness and safety of maternal vaccines and vaccination programs, such as the:
  • NIP
  • influenza
  • other respiratory vaccines.

Next steps for vaccination providers:

Vaccination providers can report antenatal information to the AIR through clinical software or the AIR site, using either the:

• antenatal indicator - the new indicator will be rolled out in clinical software throughout 2025. Vaccination providers should update to the latest version of their clinical software to make sure they have the latest functionality

• vaccine type field - if the new Antenatal indicator is not yet available in your clinical software, you must report antenatal information to the AIR using the ‘Antenatal’ option under the ‘Vaccine type’ field

Vaccination providers wanting to know when the new Antenatal indicator will be available in their clinical software are encouraged to speak with their software provider.

The department will continue to work with Services Australia to provide education and support to vaccination providers to ensure reporting obligations are met. 

For further information on reporting information to the AIR, please visit servicesaustralia.gov.au/hpair