HOW DID FIRST NATIONS AUSTRALIANS END UP AT THE BACK OF THE VACCINE QUEUE?

September 14, 2021

Today’s admission that the Government got First Nations vaccination rates in Victoria completely wrong, again highlights that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are being treated like second class citizens. 

The Prime Minister promised that First Nations Australians would be a priority and would be vaccinated by winter. But vaccination rates are more than 21 percentage points behind the general population – and the gap is growing.

The Government’s First Nations vaccination program is set to go down as a huge failure of public administration. One that was completely avoidable. 

Australians need urgent answers:

• When did the Government find out that First Nations vaccination rates were falling behind across the nation? And why didn’t they act early?
• What will be done to lift First Nations vaccination rates outside the 30 communities the Government has identified for a ‘boost’? And why haven't many regions with outbreaks or low vaccination rates been identified for help - like Central Australia, Inner Sydney and the Far West of New South Wales?
• When will vaccination rates for First Nations Australians reach 70 and 80 per cent? And what will happen if rates continue to lag so far behind?
• What is the First Nations COVID vaccination gap, with the overestimate in Victoria removed?

What we thought was a bright spot in the First Nations vaccine rollout – Victoria – has turned out to be nothing but a mirage. 

The Government also needs to explain why they changed how Indigeneity is recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register last year – opening the door for the current data debacle in Victoria.

First Nations organisations, health experts and community leaders have been telling the Government what is needed to lift First Nations vaccination rates for months. But the Government has failed to listen.