Councils say new state charges put kids’ vaccine program at risk

Councils have warned that their free children’s vaccination programs are at risk due to new state government charges for the use of a vital online record-keeping resource.

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) says councils provide 430,000 immunisations to Victorian children each year – covering 90 per cent of all vaccinations for school-aged kids, and 45 per cent of those for younger children and babies.

Councils provide 430,000 immunisations to Victorian children each year.Credit: Getty Images

The MAV said councils had been repeatedly assured that their crucial access to the state’s Central Immunisation Records Victoria (CIRV) – the platform that records vaccine histories, bookings, consent and stock – would always be free.

But correspondence from the Department of Health, obtained by The Age, shows the department will start charging councils under a new co-funding model, saying the money would help pay for the system to continue to operate.

The July letter said councils would be charged a base fee of $6000 a year plus $2 per immunisation. In a compromise offer, the department now plans to charge $3000 this financial year plus $1 per immunisation, before the base rate rises to $4000 in mid-2025.

A department spokeswoman said the costs were comparable to commercial providers, which some councils already used, and that local governments could move to those services if they preferred.

“If councils don’t want to use the CIRV, they don’t have to,” the spokeswoman said.

The state established the register in December 2022 and completed the rollout in June 2023, with council’s costs covered by the state until now, the spokeswoman said.

The department said vaccinations would remain free.

The MAV and Stonnington Council said the state had provided a system for all councils to record immunisations since 1995.

Victorian councils provide 45 per cent of vaccines for children aged two months to four years.Credit: Shutterstock

Stonnington Council provided 8888 vaccinations in 2023-24, and chief executive Dale Dickson told The Age that the new charge, which would amount to tens of thousands of dollars for his council, put its program at risk when combined with other costs that had been shifted onto councils.

“This is a race to the bottom,” Dickson said in a statement to The Age.

The council wrote to Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas on Wednesday to warn essential services were being jeopardised.

Greens population health spokesman Tim Read accused the state government of using an important public health initiative to plug holes in its budget.

“Meddling with the vaccination program and pushing costs onto councils risks introducing dangerous barriers to the effective delivery of vaccinations that are fundamental for protecting our health and keeping thousands of children out of hospital,” Read said.

MAV president David Clark said council immunisation programs were already strained because of inadequate Commonwealth and state funding.

“The co-payment may be the final tipping point for some councils considering their role in immunisations,” Clark said.

Councils had already finalised their budgets for this financial year before they learned of the charge, and Clark said the state had failed to properly consult the sector.

“As a result, it’s failed to grasp the impact this call will have on immunisation services – and for what? It’s not an amount of money that is going to make any significant inroads into the state government’s bottom line, but it is a significant cost burden for councils’ budgets,” Clark said.

“Councils are now weighing up their ability to fund and run immunisation programs … If councils cannot afford to continue delivering the immunisation program, vulnerable communities – especially those in rural and remote regions of the state – will be most impacted.”

Fifty-eight councils use the state’s immunisation recording platform, and the MAV estimated the department would generate $662,000 through the charge in 2025-26.

Shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien raised the issue in parliament this week and described the charge as “a clear broken promise, another new Labor tax”.

“Attacking councils immunising kids – could this government sink any lower?”

News of the new charges comes as the state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Clare Looker warns of rising whooping cough cases in Victoria, with more than 10 times the number of cases so far this year than in the whole of 2023.

Premier Jacinta Allan has come under pressure over health funding after instructing the state’s 76 health services to tighten spending. Allan and Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas ultimately announced an emergency bailout of $1.5 billion extra in funding, but it prompted Treasurer Tim Pallas to publicly warn all ministers they needed to adjust their spending expectations.

The May state budget projected net debt would peak at $187.8 billion by the middle of 2028.

Councils have also long complained the state has been offloading costs onto them by shifting responsibilities onto local governments, particularly in maternal and child healthcare, while capping rates.

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