Diphtheria Outbreak in Central Australia

Question

1. What are the current vaccination rates for Diphtheria in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory? 2. Has the vaccination rate gone up or declined in the past 3 years? 3. To your knowledge, when was the Aboriginal Congress Health Service in Alice Springs first made aware of the Diphtheria outbreak? 4. Is Diphtheria a notifiable disease? a. If so, who was notified, when, and what information was disseminated? 6. How many vaccines reached Indigenous communities around Alice Springs in the 3 weeks before 26 May 2026? 6. What are the rates of compliance for other vaccines on the national vaccine register for these communities? 7. Are there issues around vaccine availability or social stigma in Central Australian communities? 8. What measures is the government taking to address the outbreak?

Answer

Please see attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• DHDA SQ26-002754.pdf (opens in a new tab)