Enhancements to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) were implemented on 15 April 2023 in preparation for the 2023 influenza season. These enhancements include:

COVID-19 and Influenza Immunisation History Statement

Individuals can use a new COVID-19 and Influenza Immunisation History Statement (IHS) from the AIR.

The new IHS only displays COVID-19 and influenza vaccination information (including medical contraindications) on the AIR for an individual. This provides individuals with more privacy as they can use it as evidence for employment purposes, instead of providing their full vaccination history.

Individuals can view and print their COVID-19 and Influenza IHS (PDF version) from the AIR by:

• accessing their Medicare online account through myGov or the Express Plus Medicare mobile app
• calling Services Australia on 1800 653 809 to ask for a copy
• asking their vaccination provider to print a copy.

NOTE: For privacy reasons, anyone aged 14 or older can get their own IHS.

Digital versions of the new IHS will be available in late 2023. Individuals will be able to use and share the new IHS with their digital wallets (Apple/Google).

COVID-19 Vaccination Report (AIR042A)

The AIR042A report is now available for vaccination providers to generate through the AIR site. Updates were made to improve the usability of the AIR042A report.

Vaccination providers can extract information from the AIR based on an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination history.

This allows providers to choose the:

• vaccine brand
• total number of doses an individual has received
• number of doses received in a specified timeframe
  
  • For example, an individual has received ‘0’ doses in the last ‘6’ months
• age or Date of Birth range

Services Australia will publish an eLearning module for the AIR042A report in the coming weeks. This will include more information on how to use the AIR042A report.

It is mandatory under the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015, for vaccination providers to report the administration of COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations to the AIR.

Reporting timely, high quality and accurate vaccination information ensures that the AIR contains a complete and reliable dataset. This allows the monitoring of immunisation coverage and administration.

The Department of Health and Aged Care will continue to work with Services Australia to help vaccination providers meet their reporting obligations.