ACT immunisation rates named the highest in the country

Data from the Australian Immunisation Register show the ACT had the highest levels of one-year-old and two-year-olds being fully vaccinated out of any state and territory.

During the 12 months to the end of September 2017, the ACT's vaccination rates for those two age groups were 94.81 per cent and 92.69 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, the rate of five-year-olds in Canberra being fully immunised was 94.06 per cent, just behind Victoria and Queensland.

Both the rates for two-year-olds and five-year-olds increased compared to 2016 figures, while rates for one-year-olds in Canberra dropped from 94.87 per cent.

ACT chief health officer Paul Kelly welcomed the figures and said the territory regularly topped the table or was in the top half of the table in all of the cohorts.

"We have remained high throughout, although there are fluctuations, which is one of the things that happen with vaccination rates," he said.

Immunisation rates among the ACT's Indigenous children also recorded an increase during the 12-month period, after rates for five-year-olds dropped six per cent in 2016.

Rates for all three age groups are above the national average, with figures for one, two and five-year-old Indigenous children sitting at 92.86 per cent, 90.30 per cent and 96.21 per cent respectively.

The increase has been most significant for five-year-olds, rising from 89.08 in 2016.

Dr Kelly said the vaccination rates among Canberra's Aboriginal community was prone to large swings year-to-year.

"The ACT is a small jurisdiction, so just a small change in numbers can lead to a larger percentage change," he said.

"It's especially the case with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, where a cohort of children could be less than 100 people, so missing just one child giving one dose of one vaccine would have an effect on the percentage of coverage quite drastically."

The territory's chief health officer said increasing rates of full immunisation among Indigenous children had been a high priority for vaccination staff over the past year.

Following the low figures in 2016, ACT Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said "we can do better", with the government investigating options to improve immunisation coverage.

Dr Kelly said while the rate of children not fully immunised fluctuated around the 10 per cent mark, the number of those who opposed vaccines in the ACT was low.

"The number of conscientious objectors in the ACT is extremely small, and we think that that's where we can really work with engagement and to counteract some of the misleading information from the anti-vaccination lobby, who are influential in that group," he said.

"The majority of people are in favour of vaccinations and do get their kids vaccinated in time for their best protection."

ACT Health, along with other jurisdictions, was talking with the Commonwealth Department of Health about a national "no jab, no play" scheme, where children would be excluded from child care or pre-school if they were not fully immunised.