The No Jab No Play legislation aims to reduce the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases in the early childhood community by increasing vaccination rates.
Under the legislation, early childhood education and care (ECEC) services must get a current Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) from parents or guardians before enrolling a child. Other documents, such as a letter from a general practitioner (GP) or local council, are not accepted as evidence.
Services can only enrol a child if it is within 2 months of them first attending and when the Immunisation History Statement shows one of the following – the child:
- is up to date with their immunisations (no vaccines are overdue 2 months before the first day of attending)
- has started a recognised catch-up schedule and the next due vaccinations on the schedule are not overdue (2 months before the first day of attending)
- has a medical condition that prevents them from being fully immunised for their age.
If the parent or guardian cannot provide the statement, the child might still be eligible to enrol under a 16-week support period while the service works with the family to get the necessary immunisations or documentation.
Vaccine hesitancy or conscientious objection to vaccination is not a valid exemption when enrolling a child. All exemptions must be based on medical need, certified by a medical practitioner and recorded on the child’s AIR.
The 16-week support period
Immunisation status or missing documentation must not be a barrier for vulnerable children accessing kindergarten. Service providers must enrol eligible children experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage under the 16-week support period. An assessment form is available to help services determine eligibility.
During the support period, services must encourage parents and guardians to bring their child’s vaccinations up to date and get the required documentation.
Once enrolled, service providers must not exclude children who are not up to date with their immunisations, except if there is an outbreak of infectious disease at the service.
For more information about the support period, including eligibility criteria and the assessment form, refer to: After enrolment – ‘No Jab, No Play’ requirements.
When enrolment cannot proceed
Enrolment cannot go ahead if both:
- the parent or guardian does not provide an acceptable Immunisation History Statement
- the service provider has determined that the child is not eligible for the support period.
If this happens, the service provider should:
- advise the parent or guardian that, under Victorian legislation, they are not allowed to enrol the child without acceptable documentation
- encourage the parent or guardian to organise an appointment with their GP or local council immunisation service to arrange catch-up vaccination
- refer the parent or guardian to a specialist immunisation service, or encourage them to speak to their GP, if they have any questions or concerns about vaccination.
The following specialist immunisation services are available:
- the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne Immunisation Clinic on 1300 882 924, option 2
- Monash Immunisation, Monash Medical Centre on 1300 882 924, option 5. Telehealth is available with these services
- Victoria’s vaccine safety service, SAEFVIC on 1300 882 924, option 1.
If a child catches up with their vaccination schedule and the parent or guardian provides an updated Immunisation History Statement, they can then be enrolled.
For more advice on managing when enrolment cannot proceed, refer to: Before enrolment - 'No Jab, No Play' requirements.
Maintaining up-to-date records
Parents and guardians must provide the service with a new immunisation statement at least every 7 months (except for those enrolled in the 16-week support period).
This means services must remind parents and guardians twice a year to provide evidence of up-to-date immunisation for their child.
Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, regulation 162, services must ensure that children’s enrolment records are accurate (regulation 177). This includes, but is not limited to, the immunisation status of the child.
The department's early childhood Regulation Authority, QARD, regulates ECEC services. Compliance visits include checking if children’s enrolment records have immunisation status and immunisation certificates (or suitable exemption) in line with No Jab, No Play legislation.
All services must have policies and procedures to manage infectious disease outbreaks.
Services should promote awareness of infectious diseases and safe hygiene practices to their community to help to prevent outbreaks.
Find out more
For more information, refer to the ACECQA National Quality Framework.
For further enquiries, contact your local Quality and Assessment and Regulation Regional Office.
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