National HPV Vaccination Program Register

Information for health professionals

The National HPV Vaccination Program

As part of the National Immunisation Program, the Australian Government is providing the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil® on an ongoing basis through schools for 12 and 13 year-old girls. The government is also funding a 2 year catch-up program for 13 to 18 year-old girls in schools and 18 to 26 year-old women through general practice and community-based programs from 2007—2009.

This website contains information for health professionals about the National HPV Vaccination Program Register, which is being established to support the HPV Vaccination Program.

Questions answered on this page:

What is the National HPV Vaccination Program Register (HPV Register)?

The National Health Amendment Act 2007 (National HPV Vaccination Program Register) was passed through parliament in 2007 to allow the establishment and maintenance of a National HPV Vaccination Program Register (the HPV Register), to support the National HPV Vaccination Program.

Because the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register only accepts vaccination data for children aged up to 7 years, the HPV Register is being developed as a separate entity by the Victorian Cytology Service (VCS).

Information about HPV vaccination doses can only be notified to the HPV Register. The HPV Register does not record HPV test results.

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What are the functions of the HPV Register?

The HPV Register will be essential for supporting the National HPV Vaccination Program as well as for ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The Register will receive data from all states and territories and from all types of vaccination providers.

The HPV Register will record data about:

  • HPV vaccine doses administered
  • select demographic data (name, address, date of birth, Medicare number, name and contact details of the consenting parent or guardian, indigenous status (optional))
  • the person who administers the vaccine (including name, identification number, practice address and in the case of general practitioners, bank account details for facilitation of notification payments)

The HPV Register will:

  • send completion of vaccination statements to all individuals who have received the vaccine
  • send reminders to individuals who are overdue for vaccination within the school-based program
  • notify vaccinated individuals, in the event that booster doses are required in future
  • make payments to general practitioners who notify the Register of a vaccine dose administered to a 12—26 year-old female
  • provide reports on vaccination status to vaccination providers
  • provide de-identified data to inform policy making and approved research

In the future, the HPV Register will facilitate cross-referencing of vaccination data with information from cervical cytology (Pap smear) or cervical cancer registries for evaluation purposes.

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Who has access to the data?

All personal information on the HPV Register will be kept private and confidential. This information is protected by law under the Privacy Act 1988 and the National Health Amendment (National HPV Vaccination Program Register) Act 2007. Information on the Register will only be released to authorised persons with the consent of the individual or as required under the Act.

De-identified data (that is, information that cannot identify an individual) will be provided to inform policy making and research purposes to Australian, State or Territory governments and approved researchers.

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Is participation in the HPV Register compulsory?

Information about all vaccinations should only be reported to the HPV Register with the consent of the individual. Individuals may request removal of their details from the Register at any time by writing to the Register.

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When will the HPV Register be operational?

The infrastructure to support the Register will be established over the next year.

Functionality will be rolled out using a phased approach:

  • School-based program: data collected at a local level by states and territories will be uploaded from the school-based program
  • On-line web access: as there is a substantial volume of data to process and validate, on-line search capability of the Register by providers will not be available until 2009; when available, authorised personnel will be permitted secure access to the Register over the web using appropriate password protection and authentication
  • Mail outs: when data validation is complete, the Register will mail out completion and history statements to individuals vaccinated in the school program and completion statements to those vaccinated in the general practice/community program; the timing of this phase will depend on the upload of data from states and territories
  • Statistical reports: reports on the first year of the National HPV Vaccination Program will be available in 2009.

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Will I be paid for notifying the HPV Register?

If you are a general practitioner and have administered a HPV vaccine dose to an eligible female (12—26 years for Gardasil®), you are eligible for a payment of $6.00 for each notification to the HPV Register.

The HPV Register has been contacting general practitioners on a state-by-state basis, to collect details to enable payment processing and to receive HPV vaccination notifications, with the remaining states scheduled as below:

Vic September 2008
Qld October 2008

                                                          

Many providers have been storing HPV vaccination data as instructed by the Australian General Practice Network. Unless instructed otherwise by your state or territory, you can continue to collect HPV data in this manner, or you can use the HPV Register Vaccination Notification Form (single dose). 

Northern Territory

  • NT general practitioners should continue to follow their current process for notification of vaccinations to the NT Health Department.  The HPV Register has arrangements to collect HPV Vaccination data from the NT Health Department.   

  • Frequently Asked Questions from NT GPs

South Australia

  • SA general practitioners can use either the form you have been using or the HPV Register Notification Form. All new notifications should be faxed to (03) 8360 8699 or if you have a large number of forms send in the reply paid envelope(s) provided.  Additional supplies of the reply paid envelope can be obtained by contacting 1800 478 734 (1800 HPV REG).  The HPV Register has collected the HPV vaccination notification forms previously sent to SA Health Department.

  • Frequently Asked Questions from SA GPs. 

Queensland

  • Qld general practitioners should continue to follow their current process of notifying HPV vaccinations to the Qld Health Department. The HPV Register has arrangements to receive the HPV vaccination data from the Qld Health department.

Other States

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How do I contact the HPV Register?

Contact the HPV Register through the telephone information service on 1800 478 734 (1800 HPV REG) (between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 2 pm Saturday across Australia).

Email queries will be accepted by the HPV Register (email us).

A telephone interpreter service is available if required.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, you can call through the National Relay Service:

  • TTY users phone 1800 555 677 and ask for 1800 478 734 (1800 HPV REG)
  • Speak and listen (speech to relay) users phone 1800 555 727 and ask for 1800 478 734 (1800 HPV REG)
  • Internet Relay users connect to www.relayservice.com.au and ask for 1800 478 734 (1800 HPV REG)

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Further information and related links