Tracking Overseas Vaccinations/Digital Recognition - Dept Health - June 2 2021

Senator GREEN: Alright. We’re about to finish this section of Health. So I just have one other question. Again, I want to thank you particularly, Dr Murphy, for spending so much time with us and answering so many questions. We have one follow-up question from earlier that I want to get on the record to understand how this is working. You gave us a lot of information about the data you have on vaccinated aged-care workers, and we’ve got information on how we’re tracking aged-care residents with vaccines and information about the quarantining rates of vaccines.

As part of that, is the Department of Health recording if Australians have received a vaccination overseas if they have come home through the hotel quarantine; if so, what type of vaccination that is; and is there documentation they need to provide to tell you they have been vaccinated? I understand some countries are providing almost a vaccine passport . Is that built in the process?

CHAIR: Senator Green, we did finish off aged care prior to this section.

Senator GREEN: I just wanted to come back in the last five minutes I have and just check this.

CHAIR: Can we put this on notice?

Senator GREEN: If they’ve got the answer, it’s something that people should—

Senator DEAN SMITH: You can’t go backwards.

Senator GREEN: I’m not going backwards. I’m asking an important question about vaccines.

Senator DEAN SMITH: It feels like deja vu.

Senator GREEN: If you want to run interference instead of letting Dr Murphy answer the question—

Senator DEAN SMITH: You don’t know what interference looks like.

Senator GREEN: You don’t have to threaten me.

CHAIR: I’m happy for him to answer it if he wants to, but I’m also very conscious of the fact that we were here to do outcome 2.

Senator GREEN: I’m just asking a really important question that we need to understand about where people are getting information.

CHAIR: You’ve put it on the record and it’s up to the officials if they want to answer it or take it on notice.

Senator GREEN: They were about to answer it before you stepped in. So it wouldn’t be a good look if they didn’t answer it now.

Dr Murphy : I think Ms Edwards might comment.

Senator GREEN: Thank you.

Dr Murphy : Very briefly, this is an evolving area. We do not have any requirements, or relaxation of quarantine requirements, for people under the state and territory public health orders for vaccination. We will be working through which vaccinations overseas we will be able to recognise at some stage. We will have to get the TGA—there are some vaccines we wouldn’t recognise. It’s an evolving area. At the moment we are not collecting that information. Some of the states and territories are asking people as they come into hotel quarantine whether they’ve been vaccinated. Ms Edwards might add something.

Ms Edwards : I will just add that there are obviously two real issues we will need to deal with going forward. One is the extent to which there’s a record of vaccination that might be of interest to us in terms of what that means for you in the community, and that’s an evolving issue. But the other issue of course is personal healthcare. We want people to have a record of what care they’ve had.

So we are going to have to work with our records and the My Health Record and so on to say: ‘What vaccine? Will it be recognised? How should we record it?’ Obviously, there are all sorts of issues for an individual, for example: ‘In what circumstances and in which place did you get the vaccine? How can we be clear that you have the right level of protection if we don’t know the manner of it?’

We will be able to come to an agreement with some countries about the clinical mechanisms; others we may not. So it’s a very complex issue.

At this point we are not collecting that information for people arriving. But the sharing of vaccination information is something that the whole world will have to grapple with going forward.

Senator GREEN: Great. Could you take that on notice, then. It would be good to understand what is happening right now and if states and territories are recording that information. Finally, I think it would be helpful to understand what the plan to record that information going forward is.

Dr Murphy : Well, we’re developing a plan and, as Ms Edwards said, we have to work out which certificates other countries will trust for which vaccines and all of that sort of stuff.

Senator GREEN: Yes, that is an important part of it. That’s what I was getting at.

Ms Edwards : We can certainly take on notice the extent to which states and territories might be collecting it and any other information we have to hand. But, in terms of the plan, I suspect there might be a question for you to ask us and other agencies in the future.

Senator GREEN: Which other agencies?

Dr Murphy : Home Affairs have also been doing some international work on digital recognition.

Ms Edwards : And DFAT are bringing people back and are responsible for what happens at the border and what happens with arrivals.

Dr Murphy : There are lots of departments involved.

Ms Edwards : It’s a whole-of-government issue.

Senator GREEN: Perhaps it’s a COVID committee issue with a couple of different agencies around the table.

Dr Murphy : That could be useful.

Ms Edwards : Far be it from me to recommend a COVID hearing!

Senator GREEN: I am sure there will be more. I’m not on the committee, so I can’t decide that. Thank you.

CHAIR: It’s now 9 pm.

Source Video: (20:56)
https://parlview.aph.gov.au/mediaPlayer.php?videoID=544136

PDF Transcript:
https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/55396c0f-a088-488f-9e5a-bfbd32a6e1e2/toc_pdf/Community%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2021_06_02_8816.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/55396c0f-a088-488f-9e5a-bfbd32a6e1e2/0002%22