Key messages
- Infants, children, adolescents, adults and special risk groups are eligible to receive some vaccines for free under the National Immunisation .
- The Victorian Government also funds the provision of some vaccines that are not included on the National Immunisation Program.
Immunisation schedule Victoria
Immunisation Schedule November 2023
Immunisation Schedule November 2023
Childhood National Immunisation Program:
Check you are using the correct vaccine brand for age
Check you are using the correct vaccine brand for age
Eligibility criteria for free vaccine
Infants, children, adolescents, adults and special risk groups are eligible to receive some vaccines for free under the National Immunisation (NIP). The Victorian Government also funds the provision of some vaccines that are not included on the NIP.
Some groups of people can receive free routine and catch-up vaccines following a clinical assessment made by an immunisation provider based on the individual risk for the person.
Eligibility criteria for NIP vaccines
Access to free NIP vaccines requires a person to hold or be eligible for a Medicare card.
The program offers free essential vaccines to eligible people including:
The program offers free essential vaccines to eligible people including:
- infants and children
- adolescents
- pregnant women
- adults and seniors
- First Nation’s people
- people with certain medical conditions that puts them at greater risk of certain disease.
The program also covers free catch-up vaccinations if they were missed in childhood for:
- people aged less than 20 years old
- refugees and humanitarian entrants of any age.
The program funds all vaccines linked to family assistance payments.
Eligibility criteria for Victorian Government funded vaccines
Free routine and catch-up vaccines are funded by the Victorian Government for the following people where clinically indicated:
- vulnerable citizens - a person who has experienced socioeconomic disadvantage that compromised their equitable access to the vaccine during their period of eligibility. Vulnerable citizens are vaccinated based on an individual assessment by an immunisation provider
- infants from six months and before 11 months of age can receive a dose of MMR vaccine prior to overseas travel
- one or two doses of MMR vaccine is available for all adults born during or since 1966 without evidence of receiving two documented doses of valid MMR vaccine or without serological evidence of immunity
- people at risk of hepatitis B infection as follows:
- all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people -- hepatitis B non-immune, no restrictions.
- household contacts and sexual partners of people living with hepatitis B
- people who inject drugs or are on opioid substitution therapy
- people living with Hepatitis C
- men who have sex with men
- people living with HIV
- people no longer in a custodial setting who commenced but did not complete a free vaccine course while in custody
- people born in priority hepatitis B endemic countries and arrived in Australia in the last 10 years. (Priority countries include China, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Thailand, South Korea, Myanmar (Burma) Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Cambodia)
- Australian volunteer wildlife handlers working in a volunteer service in Victoria for the initial course of pre exposure rabies vaccine
- post exposure treatment for rabies or Australian Bat Lyssavirus.
People 20 years and older
All other people from 20 years of age who do not meet the above criteria, can receive age appropriate vaccines for free under the National Immunisation and the Victorian funded vaccine program.
To note, HPV catch-up vaccination is available up to and including 25 years of age under the NIP.
Catch-up vaccines should be administered according to age-appropriate guidelines in the online digital version of the Australian Immunisation .
Even though the vaccine may be free, the clinical administration of the vaccine/s may incur a fee by the vaccination provider.
Reviewed 15 November 2023