GUIDELINES FOR RECORDING AND MANAGING STUDENT
IMMUNISATION DATA ON SIS AT SCHOOL ENTRY 2017
BACKGROUND
Vaccination coverage rates for children entering school in Western Australia are currently
among the lowest in Australia and well below the national target of 95%. Outbreaks of
vaccine preventable diseases such as measles can have serious health consequences. To
prevent this, coverage rates need to be 95% or higher. School staff can assist the
Department of Health (DOH) to improve vaccination rates among school age children in WA
by collecting and recording immunisation data at school entry and facilitating follow up of
children whose immunisation status is incomplete by DOH staff.
Legislative and policy requirements
 The School Education Act of 1999 requires parents to provide their child’s immunisation
records when the child enrols in school.
(www.austlii.com/au/legis/wa/consol_act/sea1999170/s16.html).
 Provision of immunisation records at enrolment is also a requirement of the Department
of Education Student Health Care policy.
 Parents have the right not to have their child immunised. Enrolment of unimmunised
children can proceed but parents should be advised that during outbreaks of vaccine
preventable diseases, such as measles, their child may be excluded from school for an
extended period of time.
The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) Immunisation History Statement
 In 2016, the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) became the Australian
Immunisation Register (AIR).
 The ACIR was introduced to hold vaccination details for children zero to seven years of
age.
 The AIR records details of vaccinations given to people of all ages in Australia.
 Everyone enrolled in Medicare is automatically added to AIR. Anyone not enrolled in
Medicare is added when their vaccination details are submitted to AIR.
 Parents are sent an AIR Immunisation History Statement when their child turns
18 months of age and again at five years of age (or after their child has completed the
four-year old vaccination schedule, whichever comes first).
To ensure the immunisation record presented at school entry is up to date, parents should
obtain a current copy of the Immunisation History Statement prior to enrolment. Parents can
request an Immunisation History Statement at any time by:
 phoning the AIR enquiries line on 1800 653 809 (free call from landline);
 accessing their Medicare online account through myGov (https://my.gov.au/);
 using the Express Plus Medicare mobile app:
(www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/express-plus-mobile-apps#medicare); or
 visiting their local Department of Human Services Centre.
The AIR Immunisation History Statement indicates the student’s immunisation status which
may be shown as:
 up to date;
 not up to date; or
 blank (if no immunisation has been recorded).
See Appendix 1 for examples of AIR Immunisation History Statements.
MANAGING IMMUNISATION DATA AT ENROLMENT
This document outlines the process for recording a student’s immunisation information at
school entry on the School Information System (SIS) or equivalent database). The
information recorded will assist the school principal and community or public health staff to:
 determine which children are protected against vaccine preventable diseases should an
outbreak of these diseases occur, and
 assist DOH to follow up students particularly in Pre-primary and Year 1 whose
immunisation status is found to be ‘not up to date’.
Please follow the steps below:
1. Prior to enrolment, assist parents to obtain a current copy of their child’s
AIR Immunisation History Statement. To assist with this process, the Starting or moving
schools - immunisation records brochure developed by DOH may assist. It can be
included in the school’s pre-enrolment pack (see Appendix 2). See Section 5.0 for how
to order additional copies of the brochure if required.
2. At enrolment, ask parents to provide a current copy of their child’s AIR Immunisation
History Statement. If parents do not provide the AIR certificate at enrolment, schools may
assist parents to access their child’s AIR certificate by providing them with a further copy
of the brochure: ‘Starting or moving schools - immunisation records’ which outlines
several ways of accessing the certificate. If schools have capacity, they may also
consider expediting the process by offering parents onsite computer and/or phone access
at the point of enrolment.
3. Record immunisation data on SIS
The process of recording students’ immunisation status has been simplified as follows:
 Only AIR Immunisation History Statements should be accepted as evidence of
immunisation status for the purpose of recording on SIS.
 If the AIR Immunisation History Statement is not provided in a timely manner (within
two weeks), any further follow up will be managed by community or public health
staff.
 School staff are no longer requested to interpret or record vaccination data in regards
to specific vaccinations (e.g. Measles-Mumps-Rubella [MMR] or tetanus).
 Instead, school staff will record only the student’s overall immunisation status as
reported on the AIR Immunisation History Statement.
 School staff are asked to take a photocopy of the AIR Immunisation History
Statement provided by the parent at enrolment. This copy can be used:
 to record information on SIS at a later time;
 as a reference to confirm the correct information has been entered on SIS; and
 to seek additional clarification from community or public health staff if necessary.
 Immunisation records for students not registered on AIR, e.g. students from overseas
should also be photocopied and provided to community or public health staff for follow
up. Data should not be recorded on SIS based on this alternative documentation.
Community or public health staff may interpret or get assistance with translating
overseas records and provide advice regarding the immunisation status to be
recorded in SIS.
 Only the following categories in the ‘Vaccination Schedule’ field in SIS are used to
record student’s immunisation status. The use of this field is mandatory. These
categories are indicated below:
1. Fully completed
2. Up to date
3. Not up to date
4. No – Medical
5. No – Objection
6. Not provided
Note: the MMR and tetanus fields will remain visible in SIS until the 2012 Pre-primary cohort
completes secondary school. These fields do not need to be completed for new enrolments.
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Prior to commencing data entry you require the following information about the
student:
1. The student’s date of birth as indicated on the AIR Immunisation History Statement to
determine if they are:
 under 4 years of age; or
 over 4 years of age at school entry (i.e. when the immunisation record is presented).
2. The student’s ‘Immunisation Status’ which is recorded at the top left of the
AIR Immunisation History Statement.
Once you have the information above, please follow the flow chart below. For additional
information regarding the categories on the flow chart (see page 7, 1.0 SIS Fields).
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1.
SIS Fields
1.1
No - Medical (Medical Contraindication)
On very rare occasions, a child may be exempt from vaccination due to a medical
contraindication. Parents are asked to inform the principal upon enrolment if their
child has immunisation exemption(s) for medical reasons. Medical exemptions
should be recorded as ‘No-Medical’ in SIS.
1.2
No - Objection (Conscientious objector)
Parents are asked to inform the principal in writing upon enrolment if they are
conscientious objectors to immunisation for their child. This should be recorded as
‘No-Objection’ in SIS.
Note: Parents, who are conscientious objectors, may inform the school that their child
has received ‘homeopathic’ vaccinations but has not been vaccinated using standard
vaccines. Unless an AIR Immunisation History Statement is provided as evidence
that the student has received approved vaccinations, they should be recorded as ‘NoObjection’ in SIS.
1.3
Not provided
If parents do not provide an AIR Immunisation History Statement for their child at, or
within two weeks of enrolment and they have not indicated that there is a medical
contraindication to vaccinate or that they have a conscientious objection to
immunisation, then the student’s immunisation status should be entered as
‘Not provided’ in SIS.
Note: Please ask parents to provide a copy of their child’s AIR Immunisation History
Statement as soon as possible. To assist them, they can be provided with a copy of
the brochure: ‘Starting or moving schools - immunisation records’. Any further follow
up will be managed by the community or public health staff.
1.4
Not up to date
The immunisation status of children who have received no vaccinations or who have
commenced, but not completed, the immunisation schedule will be indicated as ‘Not
up to Date’ or blank on their AIR Immunisation History Statement, (see Appendix 1,
Figures 2a and 2b for examples). These children should be recorded as ‘Not up to
Date’ on SIS.
1.5
Up to date and fully completed
From a DOH perspective, an AIR Immunisation History Statement that indicates a
student’s immunisation status is ‘up to date’ requires a different response depending
on the child’s age at enrolment. (Refer to 1.5.1 and 1.5.2 below).
1.5.1 Children enrolled at less than 4 years of age with an AIR Immunisation
History Statement that reads ‘Up to date’
Children enrolled at less than 4 years of age will not have had the opportunity
to have been offered their 4 year old vaccinations and will need to be followed
up by the community or public health staff to ensure the schedule is
completed. These children should be entered as ‘Up to date’ on SIS (see
Appendix 1, Figure 1a, for an example).
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1.5.2 Children enrolled at 4 years and older with an AIR Immunisation History
Statement that reads ‘Up to date’
Children enrolled over 4 years of age will have their immunisation status
recorded as ‘Up to Date’ on the AIR Immunisation History Statement if all their
4 year old vaccinations have been completed. These children will require no
further follow up by community or public health staff and should therefore be
recorded as ‘Fully completed’ on SIS (see Appendix 1, Figure 1b, for an
example).
2.
Issues regarding management of immunisation data for all age groups
2.1
Enrolling students from overseas (includes new arrivals and students returning
to Australia)
 Some students e.g. those arriving or returning from overseas may not have been
registered with AIR and therefore will not have an AIR Immunisation History
Statement to provide upon school-entry.
 If parents present alternative records, including those in foreign languages, for
students not registered on AIR, please take a photocopy of the records provided
and give to the community or public health staff.
 The community or public health staff will follow-up with the parents or a translating
service to verify the student’s vaccination status.
 The community or public health staff can provide parents with advice on how to
establish an AIR record.
 Please provide parents with a copy of the DOH brochure: Starting or moving
schools - immunisation records to explain the process that will be followed and
record these students as ‘Not provided’ on SIS until an AIR Immunisation History
Statement has been presented or the community or public health staff provide the
verified vaccination status.
2.2
Parents who bring alternative vaccination records
 Parents may provide alternative vaccination records for their child (e.g. baby
book, immunisations listed in ‘My Health Record’ or childhood vaccination record
card) but not provide an AIR Immunisation History Statement.
 Alternative immunisation records should not be accepted for students registered
on AIR.
 Please ask parents to provide a copy of their child’s AIR Immunisation History
Statement as soon as possible. To assist them, they can be provided with a copy
of the DOH brochure: Starting or moving schools - immunisation records. These
students should be recorded as ‘Not provided’ in SIS.
 If parents provide alternative vaccination records for their child as well as an AIR
Immunisation History Statement, please photocopy all vaccination records
provided and ask the community or public health staff to follow up with the
parents. Record the child’s vaccination status in SIS as stated on the AIR
Immunisation History Statement.
2.3
Parents who claim the AIR Immunisation History Statement is incorrect
 Parents may advise the school that their child’s AIR Immunisation History
Statement is incorrect and present alternative vaccination records. Advise these
parents that only an AIR Immunisation History Statement will be accepted as a
record of a child’s immunisation status. Advise them to contact the immunisation
provider who gave the vaccines to update the AIR records or AIR directly to get
the record updated.
 In this situation there are two possible scenarios for recording vaccination status
on SIS:
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

If parents provide an AIR Immunisation History Statement which they believe
is inaccurate you should still record the student’s immunisation status as
indicated on the AIR History Statement according to the flow chart above; or
 If parents do not provide the AIR Immunisation History Statement because
they believe it to be incorrect, record as ‘Not provided’ on SIS.
Ask parents to provide a copy of their child’s Immunisation History Statement
when AIR has been updated. To assist them, they can be provided with a copy of
the DOH brochure: Starting or moving schools - immunisation records.
3.
Immunisation reports
3.1
System-wide reporting and follow up
A system-wide report on all children enrolled in Pre-primary and Year 1 who are
recorded on SIS as anything except ‘Fully completed’ will be provided by the
Department to DOH in February each year. DOH will then provide the relevant
information to the appropriate community or public health staff for follow up which
may involve:
 where possible, checking the child’s immunisation status on the AIR data base;
 if AIR indicates the child is not fully vaccinated after 4 years of age, community or
public health staff will provide generic follow up letters to parents for the school to
send home with students;
 to assist with distribution, letters may be provided to the school in year level
batches – the school will not be asked to conduct mail merges or mail outs.
3.2
Individual school level reports
3.2.1
In the event of an outbreak of vaccine preventable disease
In the event of an outbreak of vaccine preventable disease such as measles,
a school level report on students’ immunisation status and parent phone
contact details will enable the school to work with the community and/or public
health staff to identify and follow up with parents of those students who need
to be excluded or offered immediate vaccination.
3.2.2
Promoting immunisation – follow up of unimmunised students
In order to promote immunisation uptake, at intervals during the year, the
community or public health staff may request a school level report on the
immunisation status of children in Kindergarten to Year 2 including parent
phone contact details. This will enable community or public health staff to
identify those children who have incomplete immunisation so that they can
assist families to access local immunisation services. Follow up should only
be required with a small number of families as most children are immunised
by the time they attend school and all parents whose children are identified in
system level data as ‘not up to date’ in February each year should have
received generic follow up letters early in Term 1.
3.2.3
Ad hoc reports available on SIS
With the change to new fields for recording immunisation data in SIS there will
be a period whereby two different reports will be available to capture the
immunisation status of students recorded prior to and after the introduction of
the new fields on SIS. The reports available are entitled:
 Vaccination Schedule DOB on or before 30 June 2007
 Vaccination Schedule DOB on or after the 1 July 2007
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A screenshot of the reports is displayed below:

Vaccination Schedule DOB on or before 30 June 2007:

Vaccination Schedule DOB on or after the 1 July 2007:
3.2.4
4.
Measles exclusion
For students enrolled using the new procedures, those students identified on
the report above as anything other than ‘up to date’ or ‘fully completed’ may
need to be excluded during an outbreak of measles.
Updating SIS as a child’s vaccination status changes
It is important to update a child’s vaccination status on SIS to ensure complete and
accurate records can be obtained should an outbreak of a vaccine preventable
disease occur. The flow chart below describes how to update the SIS database.
During the school year, community or public health staff will provide any available
updated immunisation records to the school until no further children in Pre-primary
and/or Year 1 need follow-up. Parents may also provide updated information by
providing an updated AIR Immunisation History Statement directly to the school.
School staff are requested to update SIS with this information at least once a term.
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5.
How to order copies of the DOH brochure – Starting or moving schools immunisation records
Instructions on using the DOH online ordering system:
Go to www.health.wa.gov.au/ordering in your web browser:
 For first time visitors to the site click the link: Register for password. For those already
registered, go to step 5 below.
 Register your details. Be sure to enter correctly as this is used to generate the packing
label.
 Your password will be emailed to your nominated email address.
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Logging in
 Type in the email address you used to register and the password you received.
 Click the ‘Login’ button.
 You are advised to modify your password via the ‘Account’ button.
 Click on the ‘Modify’ button and re-key your new personal password.
Finding publications
 Publications can be found via the resource category, title and item code.
How to place an order
 To order the ‘‘Starting or moving schools - immunisation records brochure’, the item
number is: ‘IMM 013145’. Enter that into the search bar on top right to locate the item.
 Type the quantity you require in the ‘Order Qty’ box and click the tick button to add to
cart.
 You’ll then be asked if you wish to proceed with ordering or proceed to checkout.
 When clicked on the checkout function your registered delivery address will appear.
 Click the ‘Confirm’ button and your order number will appear at the top of the screen.
 You have now placed your order and it will be delivered within 10 working days.
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Appendix 1 – Examples of AIR Immunisation History Statements
Up to date examples:
Figure 1a – AIR Immunisation History Statement of a child with an immunisation
status of ‘up to date’. Children enrolled at less than 4 years of age with an AIR
Immunisation History Statement that reads ‘Up to date’ – record as ‘Up to date’ on
SIS.
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Figure 1b – AIR Immunisation History Statement of a child with an
immunisation status of up to date. Children enrolled at 4 years and older
with an AIR Immunisation History Statement that reads ‘Up to date’ – record
as ‘Fully completed’ on SIS.
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Not up to date examples:
Figure 2a - AIR Immunisation History Statement of a child with an
immunisation status of not up to date. Record as ‘Not up to date’ on
SIS.
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Figure 2b - AIR Immunisation History Statement of a child with no
immunisation services recorded. Record as ‘Not up to date’ on SIS.
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Appendix 2 – Department of Health brochure
Starting or moving schools - immunisation records
(See Section 5.0 of this document for details of how to order)
Visit www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/Healthy-WA/Articles/S_T/Starting-or-movingschools-immunisation-records for information about this brochure.
Prevention and Control Program, Communicable Disease Control
Directorate, Western Australian Department of Health
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