Immunised against influenza (PI14)

This indicator is the proportion of First Nations regular clients aged 6 months and over who received an influenza immunisation within the previous 12 months.

It is collected for males and females in age groups:

  • 6 months–4 years
  • 5–14 years
  • 15–24 years
  • 25–34 years
  • 35–44 years
  • 45–54 years
  • 55–64 years
  • 65 years and over.

There have been changes to the specification of this indicator over time. See Interpreting nKPI data for more information.

Why immunisation against influenza is important

Influenza (the flu) is a contagious respiratory disease that causes seasonal epidemics in Australia. Anyone can be infected with influenza but some people, such as First Nations people, have a higher chance of serious illness and complications, such as pneumonia. Some people with influenza die as a result of their infection. Annual influenza vaccination substantially reduces the risk of hospitalisation and death from influenza and pneumonia for First Nations people (AIHW 2022).

At June 2022, 21% (or around 77,600) of First Nations regular clients aged 6 months and over received an influenza immunisation within the previous 12 months.

Immunised against influenza by reporting period

Immunised against influenza—aged 6 months and over, by reporting period

This Tableau visualisation shows the percentage of Indigenous regular clients aged 6 months and over who had an influenza immunisation in the last year, for reporting periods from December 2020 to June 2022.

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Data.

Notes

  1. In December 2020, specifications changed for this indicator and data from that point on cannot be compared with previous periods. See Interpreting nKPI data for more information.
  2. See Technical notes for more information, including on interpreting changes over time.

 

The proportion of clients receiving an influenza vaccination was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the earlier periods. Comments received from organisations who had a 20% or more decrease in the number of clients receiving an influenza vaccination provide some insight into the reasons for this. For example, organisations noted:

  • pandemic-related restrictions reduced the number of clients attending the organisations overall, not only for influenza vaccination
  • the delivery of influenza vaccines to the organisations, and then the provision of those vaccines to clients, was initially delayed because of the rollout and prioritisation of the COVID-19 vaccination and testing program
  • the time interval required between COVID-19 and influenza vaccination
  • clients being confused and hesitant about receiving vaccines in general, including for influenza.

Being immunised against influenza was highest in:

  • the Northern Territory (30%)
  • Very remote areas (26%)
  • organisations other than Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (non-ACCHOs) (24%).

Immunised against influenza by reporting period and state/territory or remoteness or organisation type

Immunised against influenza—aged 6 months and over, by either state/territory, remoteness or organisation type, reporting period

Two Tableau visualisations are presented here. The first shows the percentage of Indigenous regular clients aged 6 months and over who had an influenza immunisation in the last year for either:

  • state/territory (NSW/ACT, Vic, Qld, WA, SA, Tas, NT, Australia)
  • remoteness area (Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote, Very remote, Australia)
  • organisation type (ACCHO, non-ACCHO, Total).

Reporting periods of either December 2020, June 2021, December 2021, or June 2022 can be selected.

The second visualisation shows the selected information from the first visualisation by sex (male, female) and age groups (6 months–4 years, 5–14, 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65 and over).

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Archived content.

Notes

  1. In December 2020, specifications changed for this indicator and data from that point on cannot be compared with previous periods. See Interpreting nKPI data for more information.
  2. See Technical notes for more information, including on interpreting changes over time.

Reference

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2022) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework: immunisation, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 3 January 2023.

Previous page
Next page