NSW School Vaccination Program

Vaccines recommended and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council are provided for free to high school students as part of the NSW School Vaccination Program. NSW Health works with high schools to deliver these vaccines in schools. All NSW Health workers involved in the NSW School Vaccination program have Working with Children Check clearances.

The vaccines provided to students to help prevent serious illness under the NSW School Vaccination Program are:

• Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (dTpa)
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
• Meningococcal ACWY.

If your child is enrolled in distance education or is home-schooled, please contact your child’s medical practitioner, pharmacist immuniser or other immunisation provider for free, age-appropriate vaccines.

If you are a newly arrived migrant or refugee, NSW Heath offers routine vaccinations that are recommended under the National Immunisation Program. These vaccines are offered at Intensive English Centres.

To find out more about the NSW School Vaccination Program, including an informative view about the importance of vaccines, which vaccines are offered and translated guides and resources, please visit the NSW Health website.

For more information about the NSW School Vaccination Program in your area contact your local Public Health Unit or call 1300 066 055.

Immunisation requirements for school enrolment

Preschool

As a requirement from the Public Health Amendment (Review) 2017, parents/carers cannot enrol their child in preschool without showing documents that proves that the child:

• is fully vaccinated for their age, or
• cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons, or
• is on a recognised vaccine catch-up schedule if they have fallen behind on vaccinations.

Primary and high school

Parents/carers will be asked to provide an Immunisation History Statement when enrolling their child in a NSW public primary or high school.

If your child is not vaccinated, they can still be enrolled in a NSW public primary or high school. However, during a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak, they may be asked to stay at home (NSW Public Health Act).

Consent for school vaccination

Parents/carers must provide consent for their child to receive vaccinations at school. If you do not provide signed consent as a parent/carer, your child will not receive vaccinations. Students aged 18 years and over may sign the consent form for themselves.

Parents/guardians can provide consent online through an online consent portal. If students and their parents/guardians do not have a Medicare card, consent can still be provided by a paper-based consent form, which can be provided by the school.

More information on how to provide online consent for parents is available on the NSW Health website.

Contact details

For further information, please contact correspondence-studenthealthandwellbeing@det.nsw.edu.au.