Health recommendations and advice from a trusted healthcare professional can help parents and carers make informed decisions about childhood vaccinations.

Healthcare professionals who are able to effectively communicate the benefits and safety of childhood immunisation help to provide reassurance for parents and carers who are unsure about vaccinating their children.

Although most Australian parents and carers choose to vaccinate their children, it’s natural for them to have
questions about:

• how vaccines work
• vaccine safety
• side effects
• vaccine-preventable diseases.

About the Childhood Immunisation — Health professionals’ kit

The resources in the Childhood Immunisation — health professionals' kit are designed to support healthcare professionals in having conversations with parents and carers about childhood immunisation, helping them to make informed choices for their child.

Resources in this kit include:

• answers to common questions from parents and carers
• support for conversation approaches to childhood immunisation
• guides to following up on children who have missed scheduled vaccines
• immunisation clinical support.

Access the Childhood Immunisation — Health professionals’ kit online.

Childhood immunisation resources for First Nations patients

A range of resources are available to let parents know about the benefits of vaccination and encourage them to vaccinate on time. Access the Childhood Immunisation resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.

This 30-second animation for First Nations families explains the importance of childhood immunisation:

Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation (SKAI) communication support tools

The Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation (SKAI) communication support tools are designed to aid and inspire conversations about vaccinating pregnant women, parents of young children, and families. These tools were developed by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, in partnership with the University of Sydney and other collaborators.

• The health professional tools (skai.org.au/healthcare-professionals) are designed to help you meet the needs of all parents, whether they are ready to vaccinate, have questions, or intend to decline vaccination altogether.
• The parents page (kai.org.au/childhood) provides information and resources to support parents in making vaccination decisions for their family.

More support for vaccine providers

Tailored support for general practice

Our General Practice Quality Improvement team can support your practice to identify eligible patients and establish goals for increasing your vaccination rates. Contact the Quality Improvement team via support@bsphn.org.au or phone (07) 3864 7540.

Your pharmacy can participate in the National Immunisation Program Vaccinations in Pharmacy (NIPVIP) Program

The National Immunisation Program Vaccinations in Pharmacy (NIPVIP) Program allows eligible patients to receive free National Immunisation Program (NIP) vaccines at community pharmacies, residential aged care and disability homes.

To participate in the NIPVIP Program, registration and claiming can be done through the Pharmacy Programs Administrator (PPA) Portal.

Refer to the Immunisation Schedule Queensland for details on which vaccines are included under the National Immunisation Program (NIP).