The Immunisation Schedule Only Makes Sense Next to Your Child’s Record

Job for today: get your child’s immunisation history statement. It takes about 12 minutes.

1. Sign in to myGov or the myGov app and select Medicare. About 2 minutes.
2. Select Proof of vaccinations, then choose your child. They must be under 14 and listed on your Medicare card, and you must be their parent or legal guardian. About 1 minute.
3. Read the declaration and accept it. Then select View Complete immunisation history statement (PDF). Skip the COVID-19 and influenza one. About 2 minutes.
4. Save the PDF where you can find it again. About 1 minute.
5. Open the National Immunisation Program schedule in a second window, next to the statement. About 1 minute.
6. Tick each age point your child has passed. About 5 minutes.

The times are estimates. The core of the Australian immunisation schedule is the same for every child, with extra rows for some children, and states and territories add vaccines of their own. The statement is the only document that says which points are already ticked for yours. That’s why the order matters, and the rest of this post covers each step, the other ways to get the statement, and what to do if a dose is missing or wrong.

Why the record comes before the immunisation schedule

The immunisation schedule is a national list of what is recommended and when. It says nothing about your child. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s own page says you can use the statement to check that a child’s vaccinations are up to date.

The Complete statement shows everything reported to the Australian Immunisation Register on or after 1 January 1996. It also shows what is due or overdue, any recorded medical contraindication or natural immunity, and whether your child is on an active catch-up schedule. The register records National Immunisation Program (NIP) vaccines, most school-based vaccines and most private ones.

That’s why step 3 asks for the Complete statement. The other option covers COVID-19 and influenza only, so it can’t show you the whole picture. When the PDF opens, look for three things. First, the vaccines that are recorded and the dates they were given. Second, anything marked due or overdue. Third, a note that your child is on an active catch-up schedule, if there is one. Those three answers are what you’ll compare against the schedule.

Keep one more fact next to the schedule. The NIP vaccines are free, although a provider may charge a consultation fee, and eligibility is linked to Medicare. States and territories also fund extra vaccines, so check your own state or territory’s schedule as well as the national one.

Other ways to get the statement

The myGov route is the quickest. If it doesn’t suit, there are three other routes.

• Ask your GP or vaccination provider. They can print it.
• Ring the Australian Immunisation Register on 1800 653 809, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, and ask for a copy by post.
• Link the Individual Healthcare Identifier service to myGov if you are not eligible for Medicare. Services Australia has help pages for this.

Allow for the post. Services Australia, which runs the register, says up to 14 days. The Department’s page says up to 10 business days, which comes to about the same two weeks. Plan on two weeks.

Pick the route that fits your situation. If your child is under 14 and listed on your Medicare card, myGov is the fastest. If you’re already at the GP for another reason, ask for a print-out there. If you don’t use myGov, the phone and post route works, but it needs those two weeks. If you aren’t eligible for Medicare, the Individual Healthcare Identifier link is the way in.

Age matters here. A child who is 14 or over has to get their own statement, for privacy reasons. They can consent to a parent getting a copy by phone, but they need to consent each time.

If Medicare won’t link to myGov, check the usual causes. Services Australia lists a name or details that don’t match, and a forgotten password. When the link asks for an agency reference number, enter the Medicare card number plus the individual reference number. That’s 11 digits with no spaces.

Reading the statement against the schedule by age

Here is the first date to settle. As at 29 October 2026, the schedule in force is the one current from 9 October 2026. The Department’s schedule page still reads “Date last updated: 4 September 2025”, yet the PDF on it is headed with the 9 October 2026 date. Trust the date printed on the PDF.

The table below restates the age points and the diseases the schedule lists for every child. It is a checklist, not a substitute for the PDF. Tick each row against the statement.

The same PDF carries extra rows. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have additional entries, some of them by region, and so do children with specified medical risk conditions. They aren’t reproduced here. Open the PDF and check whether any apply to your child.

Here’s how to tick. Start at the top of the table and stop at the last age point your child has passed. For each row, find the diseases on your statement and check that a vaccination is recorded against them. A tick means the statement shows it. A blank means there’s a gap to follow up, not that anything has gone wrong, because the cause could be a late entry, a record held elsewhere or a dose that was never given. Don’t try to work out which at this stage. Your job is only to list what the statement doesn’t show.

The influenza row works differently from the rest. It repeats each year from 6 months to under 5 years, so look for one entry for each year your child has been in that range.

Tick two entries first, because the schedule prints time limits for them. Hepatitis B at birth must be within 7 days. Rotavirus has a first dose by 14 weeks and a second by 24 weeks. After those, work down the table in order.

Then list the gaps in one place. One line per gap: the age point and the disease. That list is what you’ll take to your provider.

If something is missing or wrong

New vaccinations can take a few days to appear, and Services Australia says recording can take up to 10 days or longer. Give it time before you act.

If a dose is still missing, follow this order.

1. Ask the provider who gave the vaccine to update the register. You can’t edit it yourself, and only a recognised vaccination provider can.
2. Ask them to correct anything wrong. They can fix the number of doses, the dates and the brand.
3. Don’t try a vaccination hub or clinic that didn’t give the vaccine. They can’t update details unless you were vaccinated there.
4. If the provider can’t fix it, ring the register on 1800 653 809.

Because only a recognised vaccination provider can update the register, start with the clinic that gave the vaccine.

Have a few things in hand before you ring or visit. Bring the saved statement, your gap list, and any paper record, such as the child health record or a clinic card, that shows the dose. Give the provider the age point and the disease from your list. That’s enough for them to look up what they hold.

If your child’s name or date of birth is wrong on the register, the route is different. The relevant Services Australia page, last updated in August 2022, says to visit a service centre. Check that page for the current steps, because it is the oldest of those cited here.

For vaccinations given overseas, take your child’s documents in English to a recognised vaccination provider in Australia. Ask them to add the doses to the register.

Reminder letters are sent to parents of children under 14 who are overdue, so keep your address up to date. And keep paper records as well. The register is the main record, but written records matter when it can’t confirm a dose.

A fair frustration sits behind all this. Fixes can be slow, and the pages themselves say up to 10 days or longer. Keep to the same route anyway, because it’s the one that ends in a corrected record.

If a dose really was missed, or cannot be confirmed

The Australian Immunisation Handbook has a plain rule for this. Its catch-up page, as at 29 October 2026, puts written documentation first. Every effort should be made to confirm an earlier vaccination, including contacting the provider who may have given it.

If the register can’t confirm a dose and there are no written records, the vaccine is considered not received. Catch-up appropriate to the child’s age is then offered. The plan is built from the doses that are documented. In almost all cases, the schedule isn’t started again from the beginning. A child who has moved from interstate may need catch-up.

Catch-up is free under the NIP for eligible people up to age 20, and for HPV up to and including age 25. A GP or immunisation provider plans it. A provider can also record a planned catch-up on the register for people under 20. It is valid for 6 months and can be recorded once per person.

Here’s a hypothetical to show the order of events. Say a parent ticks the table and finds one age point with nothing recorded, while an old paper record in a drawer suggests a clinic visit around that time. The parent takes the statement and the paper to the provider listed on it. If the provider confirms the dose and updates the register, the gap closes. If nobody can confirm it and no written record exists, the dose counts as not received, and the GP or immunisation provider plans the catch-up from the doses that are documented. Before you book, write down the gaps from your list and the questions you want answered. A short list of questions makes any GP visit more useful. The example in that post is foot and ankle care, but the habit carries over.

If you have questions about any vaccine, the clinician can answer them at the same visit. This post takes no position on any vaccine beyond the national schedule. It is a records check.

Your Next Step Is the Statement

The order is short: statement, schedule, gap list. If the gap list is empty, there’s nothing more to do today except save the file. If it has entries, each one goes to the provider who gave the vaccine, or to a GP or immunisation provider for a catch-up plan. Allow two weeks for anything posted.

Next job: book the GP or ring the provider for any gap on your list, and keep the saved statement with the child’s papers.

Sources: National Immunisation Program Schedule, Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, current from 9 October 2026 (https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-10/national-immunisation-program-schedule_0.pdf); Services Australia, Medicare online account help, Get an immunisation history statement, page updated 28 September 2026 (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/medicare-online-account-help-get-immunisation-history-statement); Services Australia, How to get immunisation history statements, page updated 8 July 2026 (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-to-get-immunisation-history-statements); Services Australia, Updating your immunisation history statements, page updated 26 November 2024 (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/help-updating-your-immunisation-history-statements); The Australian Immunisation Handbook, Catch-up vaccination, page last updated 30 September 2026 (https://immunisationhandbook.health.gov.au/contents/catch-up-vaccination); Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Immunisation Program Schedule (web page), date last updated 4 September 2025 (https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/when-to-get-vaccinated/national-immunisation-program-schedule); Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Check immunisation history, date last updated 13 October 2025 (https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/getting-vaccinated/check-immunisation-history); Services Australia, What an immunisation history statement is, page updated 14 September 2026 (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/what-immunisation-history-statement); Services Australia, What the register is, page updated 27 May 2026 (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/what-australian-immunisation-register); Services Australia, Update your details on the AIR, page updated 11 August 2022 (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-to-update-your-personal-details-so-your-details-are-correct-australian-immunisation-register-air); Services Australia, Overseas immunisations, page updated 24 September 2026 (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/overseas-immunisations)