Aboriginal identification in Hunter New England infants.

In the past when Hunter New England Population Health receivedAustralianChildhood ImmunisationRegister lists of children overdue for vaccination, Aboriginal children were identified in partnership with local Aboriginal health workers and followed up in an attempt to facilitate more timely future doses of vaccine. However, this meant that children were already overdue at an age when they were most vulnerable to many vaccine-preventable diseases. This ‘lesson from the field’ describes a new approach to improve both Aboriginal immunisation rates and the recording by health staff of mothers’ identification of their baby’s Aboriginal status.