Childhood vaccination insights

Key findings summary

Australia has seen a gradual and concerning decline in childhood vaccinations since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Routine monitoring and measurement of data and insights on barriers to vaccination are needed to understand why children are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated – and to inform strategies to improve vaccination uptake.

Social science researchers from the National Vaccination Insights project conducted a nationally representative survey of 2,000 parents to understand the barriers to uptake of National Immunisation Program vaccines among children under 5 years of age.

A summary of key findings from the survey is accessible via the link below.
 

Explore the key findings
 

A project to understand vaccination barriers

The survey used the Vaccine Barriers Assessment Tool (VBAT) – which was specifically developed to identify drivers of under-vaccination in children aged under 5 years in Australia – to assess 15 barriers relating to: 

• vaccine access (i.e. parents’ practical difficulties) 
• vaccine acceptance (i.e. parents’ thoughts and feelings about vaccines and parents’ social influences). 

What did the team analyse?

The researchers calculated how common vaccine access and acceptance barriers were across three cohorts: 

1.  parents of partially vaccinated children^*
2.  parents of unvaccinated children^† 
3.  parents of up-to-date children.^‡

The team explored potential associations between barriers and vaccination status by comparing:

• barriers reported by parents of partially vaccinated children with those reported by parents of up-to-date children 
• barriers reported by parents of unvaccinated children with those reported by parents of up-to-date children.

The team also explored potential associations between barriers and other characteristics by comparing:

• barriers reported by parents experiencing financial stress and parents not experiencing financial stress 
• barriers reported by parents living in metro-regional areas and parents living in rural-remote areas.

The team presented and discussed survey findings at a strategy workshop with an immunisation stakeholder advisory group comprising members representing policy, provider and community settings. The aim of the workshop was to select and contextualise evidence-based strategies to address key barriers to vaccination.

A full report that includes comprehensive findings from both the survey and the strategy workshop – as well as proposed policy- and practice-related actions for consideration – will be released in early 2025.  

 About the project

*Children who have received some but not all vaccines recommended for their age
†Children who have not received any of the vaccines recommended for their age 
‡ Children who have received all vaccines recommended for their age