NSW Health works with schools to offer the vaccines recommended and funded for adolescents by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in a school-based vaccination program, including:
Watch the video to learn more about the NSW Health school vaccination program.
Information about school vaccinations for students in Year 7 and Year 10 is available in English and 28 other languages.
See all translated resources
To get free vaccinations at school, a parent or guardian must give consent for each vaccine.
Parents and carers can give consent online. Just log in using your Service NSW account—this is the same account you might use to renew your driver’s licence.
If you don’t have a Service NSW account, you can create one by visiting Service NSW or call Service NSW on 13 77 88, Monday to Friday, between 7am and 7pm. Accessibility, interpreter, and translation services are available.
To provide online consent, you will need:
If you or your child does not have a Medicare card, you can still give consent by asking the school for a paper consent form. Once you give consent, it stays active unless you choose to withdraw it.
Parents can withdraw consent at any time before vaccination takes place.
If you gave online consent, log in to the NSW Health portal and follow the steps to withdraw.
If you used a paper form, contact the school by phone or in writing. Make sure to include:
This video explains how to give consent online for the School Vaccination Program.
This video is also available in 15 other languages
Read a step-by-step guide on how to provide consent online.
Translated guides on how to give consent for vaccination are also available in:
Students in secondary schools in 2026 will be offered the following vaccines:
Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (dTpa) vaccine
Some students may experience some mild and temporary side effects following vaccination including:
If your child has an unexpected reaction that you are concerned about, please contact your doctor or seek medical attention.
For more information, refer to Following vaccination - what to expect and what to do.
An adverse event following immunisation (AEFIs) is defined in The Australian Immunisation Handbook as "any untoward medical occurrence that follows immunisation. It does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the vaccine".
AEFIs are notifiable conditions under the NSW Public Health Act (Schedule 1).
All AEFI notifications are required to be reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). In NSW, all AEFI notifications should be reported to the local Public Health Unit by calling 1300 066 055.
More information is available on Adverse events following immunisation (AEFI)
Australia has systems in place to make sure vaccines are safe and to track any unexpected side effects that might not show up in early trials.
Health workers help by:
AusVaxSafety watches for side effects from vaccines such as: Flu, HPV, RSV, shingles, and whooping cough (including during pregnancy). It also publishes vaccine safety surveillance data through the AusVaxSafety vaccine safety surveillance system.
The Australian Government publishes yearly reports on vaccine safety through Australia-wide annual reports on AEFI surveillance.
Another program, FluTracking, complements these efforts by monitoring respiratory illness symptoms in the community to raise awareness about respiratory illness. You can learn more and sign up at: FluTracking.
If you gave consent but your child missed their vaccination, you’ll get a notification letting you know they weren’t vaccinated.
Every effort will be made to vaccinate students who have completed consent but missed vaccination throughout the year at subsequent school clinics. Where this is possible, parents will be advised of arrangements for catch-up vaccinations.
If the school immunisation team has capacity, catch-up clinics may be held in Year 8 and Year 11 for students who had consent forms submitted the year before.
You can also get free catch-up vaccines from:
If your child has a physical or intellectual disability, or both, please read School vaccination for students with physical and/or intellectual disabilities for more information.
To help you and your child plan for vaccination day at school, you can show your child this social story, Easy read: I will get vaccines at school, to help explain to them what will happen and what to expect when they get their vaccination at school.
New migrants (including refugees) attending Intensive English Centres (IECs) may not have received the vaccines that are routinely offered in Australia. Migrant students will be offered vaccines, depending on their age.
Students who miss vaccine doses due to absence on the day of the clinic will be advised to receive any catch-up vaccination at their local GP or pharmacist immuniser.
Translated information about IEC vaccination is available in 28 languages.
Students who are enrolled in distance education or who are home-schooled are eligible for free age-appropriate vaccines. Adolescents can access vaccines from their GP, pharmacist immuniser, Aboriginal medical service, community health centre or other immunisation provider. It is important when making the appointment that parents/ guardians inform the receptionist of the reason for their visit and allow at least three working days for the vaccine to be ordered and delivered to the clinic.
For more information about the NSW School Vaccination Program in your area, contact your local public health unit (PHU) by calling 1300 066 055.
These Easy Read resources have been developed by NSW Health:
More information to help make informed decisions about the vaccines recommended to protect adolescents from a range of infectious diseases is available on Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation (SKAI).
