KATY Gallagher has welcomed the latest ACT immunisation results released in the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) quarterly report, with immunisation rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children up from previous reports.

“This latest report shows that the ACT has again achieved high immunisation rates for all children and is above the national average in all three age cohorts: 12 to 15 months (cohort one), 24 to 27 months (cohort two) and 60 to 63 months (cohort three),” Katy said.

“The report contains the immunisation rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, which showed that all three age cohorts were above the national average. The 12-15 month cohort was 7.7% above the national average, the 2 year old cohort 3.9% above and the 5 year old cohort 3% above the national average. Particularly pleasing was the increase in the coverage rate from 89.3% for 5 year old children from the March 2014 quarter to 96.2% in the June quarter.

Due to the very low numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT, significant rate fluctuations can occur between the cohorts and between the reporting periods.

“All of these results are great news for the Territory, and highlight the role continued education about the benefits of immunising your children plays.

“The ACT also ranked first in Australia within cohort one, second in cohort two and first in cohort three for immunisation coverage of all children.

The Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) issues quarterly reports on immunisation coverage rates for Australian children. All immunisation coverage data and reports can be accessed at: www.immunise.health.gov.au