Vaccination programs in Australia
As anyone who has a child in care will tell, you it's almost impossible to avoid germs and sickness when you have a group of kids together sharing just about everything. You might like to read Keeping your child healthy in child care for some general tips on how to reduce the number of times your child gets sick.

Another well recognised way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in child care, and the wider community, is through vaccination. In Australia vaccination is optional, however, the Government encourages parents to vaccinate through providing a universal free vaccination program and by offering financial incentives to parents who complete the full program.

You can get detailed information on current immunisation programs and information on the vaccines from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing website.

Exclusion policies
Choosing not to vaccinate your child may mean he or she is excluded from their school or child care centre when a vaccine preventable disease breaks out. Excluding children who aren't vaccinated is for their own protection and also to avoid the possibility of them infecting other children.

To ensure exclusion policies are adhered to, most child care centres ask parents to provide a copy of their child's vaccination history on enrolment. The exclusion rule also applies to child care centre staff who haven't been vaccinated.

Exclusion policies can be frustrating for working parents who rely on child care. Read our article on Sick Days and Emergency Care for some ideas on how to find child care if your little one is excluded from their child care centre.

Most child care centres have exclusion policies for illnesses which can't be vaccinated against as well. Remember that the policies are in place to protect your child and the rest of your family and you should make every effort to stick to the rules.