Practice Connect #246

Provider Connect Australia (PCA), an initiative of the Australian Digital Health Agency, enables healthcare provider organisations to maintain their business information in one place. This helps keep service and practitioner details accurate, reduces duplication, streamlines notifications, and makes it easier to share updates with business partners while lowering effort and errors.

Watch this short video for an overview of how PCA Works (46-seconds).

If your general practice is already registered for Provider Connect Australia (PCA), follow these steps to publish your practice details to your business partners.

1. Log in to the PCA portal
2. Click the Publishing icon in the blue sidebar or select Manage in the publishing settings tile
3. Click Add
4. Select the business partners you want to publish to
5. Choose the information you want to share
6. Read and accept the information use statements
7. Click Publish

For further support, visit the Digital Health website, email digitaladoptionsupport@health.gov.au, or contact Practice Assist or your Primary Care Navigator on 08 6278 7900 or via email practiceassist@wapha.org.au

FluMist is available for immunisation providers to order through their practice’s Onelink account. Since the program began, 49,200 doses have been distributed to providers, with 15,407 doses reported in the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

Effective from 16 April, the order limit has been increased to 200 doses per week.

If your practice requires more than 200 doses per week, please email vaccineorders@health.wa.gov.au, or write a note in the ‘Notes’ field in your Onelink order requesting the additional stock and reason why (for example, ‘practice has two influenza clinics scheduled’ or ‘an increase in bookings for children aged two to 11 years of age’).

The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) has introduced annual due and overdue rules for influenza vaccines. If no influenza vaccine has been recorded since 1 March in the current year, the vaccine will show as due from 1 May and overdue from 1 June.

These rules help vaccination providers identify people who may be eligible for a free influenza vaccine under the National Immunisation Program (NIP). The AIR will issue overdue reminder letters each year from 1 June to 30 September, in line with Australian Immunisation Handbook (AIH) advice on peak influenza circulation.

Each year, these due and overdue rules apply to people eligible for a NIP-funded influenza vaccine, including:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 6 months and over
• Children aged 6 months to under 5 years
• People aged 65 years and over

However, the AIR cannot identify every cohort or clinical circumstance in which a person may qualify for a free NIP influenza vaccine. As a result:

• Some eligible people will not appear as due for influenza in the AIR, such as pregnant women and people with certain medical conditions.
• Only one dose per year will display as due, even when two doses are clinically recommended.

These AIR due and overdue rules are a guide only.

Before vaccinating, immunisation providers should refer to the AIH and the ATAGI Statement on the administration of seasonal influenza vaccines for the latest clinical recommendations.

The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) due and overdue rules for pneumococcal are being updated to align with the National Immunisation Program (NIP) schedule for Aboriginal children. These changes apply only to Aboriginal children who turn 6 months old on or after 28 April 2026.

This enhancement means eligible children will appear as due in the AIR for the additional pneumococcal dose recommended at 6 months of age. Any pneumococcal vaccine given at 6 months will appear under the correct schedule on the child’s Immunisation History Statement (IHS). If an Aboriginal child does not receive the additional recommended dose at 6 months, it will not:

• Change the child’s NIP immunisation status; they will still display as ‘up-to-date’
• Affect Family Assistance payments

Vaccination providers will be able to see when a Aboriginal child is due for a pneumococcal vaccine in:

• The AIR site
• Clinical information software integrated with the AIR

Providers will also be able to run due and overdue pneumococcal vaccine reports through the AIR site, as they do for other NIP vaccines. This will help identify children who may need catch-up vaccination.

Services Australia has published the updated National due and overdue rules for immunisation.

More information about these updates is available here.

WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is supporting nurses in general practice, aged care and Aboriginal health to complete the ‘Understanding Vaccines and the National Immunisation Program’ Health Education Services Australia (HESA) accredited training program.

This expression of interest (EOI) is for registered nurses, enrolled nurses, nurse practitioners and Aboriginal health practitioners who require training on immunisation. Please read the information below before completing the EOI survey.

To apply, registered and enrolled nurses and Aboriginal health practitioners must be:

• registered with AHPRA; and
• currently employed in residential aged care homes (RACHs) providing COVID-19 vaccination; or
• currently employed in a relevant health setting providing COVID-19 vaccination.

Access the EOI: Understanding Vaccines and the National Immunisation Program.

For all queries, email the WAPHA Immunisation team at immunisation@wapha.org.au

The first suspected diphtheria-related death in Australia in almost a decade has been reported in the Northern Territory, with cases continuing to be identified in Western Australia and other states. At time of publication, 90 cases of diphtheria have been reported in WA.

The Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and Communicable Diseases Network Australia have developed Interim guidance for diphtheria outbreak management for state and territory public health units.

The Australian CDC is also advising travellers to higher-risk areas to check their vaccination status and consider vaccination if they have not received a diphtheria containing vaccine in the past 5 years.

Recent public health alerts have also been issued – Diphtheria alert for regional Western Australia.

To support the response, the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has announced a support package, including:

• booster vaccinations and treatment
• National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation funding to support culturally safe communication and outreach in the NT and affected states.

Further information available here.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Awareness Week takes place from 7 to 13 June.

This year’s theme, ‘Don’t Let Them Go Unprotected’, calls for action to protect Australians most at risk of severe RSV.

Held at the start of winter, RSV Awareness Week highlights the increased risk of RSV across Australia. RSV can cause serious illness, especially in babies, older adults and other high-risk groups.

Protecting vulnerable people is a shared responsibility. By working together, we can reduce the impact of RSV on families and communities.

Everyone can help, including individuals, healthcare professionals and organisations:

• Increase awareness of RSV and its effects
• Share trusted, evidence-based information
• Promote RSV protection for infants and older adults

Quality improvement activity

This is an ideal time for your practice to complete a quality improvement activity on infant RSV. Access the PDSA here.

Resources

The WA Department of Health has released a helpful decision aid for RSV eligibility, embedded in the WA Immunisation Schedule or available here.

More information, a toolkit and posters are available from the Immunisation Foundation of Australia.