Immunisation - Early Childhood Services
Children enrolled in approved Early Childhood (EC) services, including preschools and long day care centres, must be fully vaccinated.
The NSW Public Health Act (2010) requires children enrolled in EC services to have approved proof of immunisation. EC services cannot enrol a child unless the parent/guardian has provided approved proof of immunisation.
EC services must keep an up-to-date immunisation register of all enrolled children, recording each immunisation milestone. They must notify their local Public Health Unit in certain circumstances when there is a vaccine preventable disease.
Children attending Out of School Hours Care, whether on a school or external site, are permanently exempt from immunisation requirements that otherwise apply to services such as preschools and long day care centres. Other services that are not included are listed in the Education and Care Services National Regulations (Chapter 1, Regulation 5).
Children enrolling in school-based Prep or Kindergarten Minus One classes or programs are not subject to the EC requirements. (Please refer to information for schools here).
The AISNSW Immunisation Fact Sheet: Early Childhood Services provides further details about the responsibilities for approved EC services, including:
- enrolment requirements
- approved proof of immunisation documents
- immunisation register and record keeping requirements
- notification requirements.
There are different requirements for schools. See the Immunisation – Schools webpage for information for schools.
Compliance
NSW Department of Education inspectors continue to check, as part of routine regulatory activities, that each early childhood education service complies with public health provisions related to vaccination record keeping, i.e. the service has recorded the vaccination status of children at enrolment in an immunisation register.
NSW Health is responsible for any penalty action for non-compliance. Importantly for Independent schools with an associated preschool or long day care service, the principal (or service director) may be fined 50 penalty units if they fail to comply with the childcare vaccination enrolment requirements. Any person who forges or falsifies a required certificate may also be fined 50 penalty units.
Further NSW Health support and information
An Immunisation Enrolment Toolkit for EC services can be used to support compliance with their legal responsibilities under the Public Health Act 2010 (NSW).
Further information on immunisation requirements for early childhood education services is available online from NSW Health.
