The case for recording Q-fever on the Australian Immunisation Register 

In 2004, AMPC began maintaining the non-statutory Q-fever Register, which stores the immune status of individuals in relation to Q-fever including records of vaccination, immunity, and diagnosis. Q-fever is a disease that can be spread to humans from animals, mainly from cattle, sheep and goats. People who work in the meat processing sector have historically been considered at a high-risk of contracting the disease. The register was designed to centralise the process for screening workers in the meat processing industry and managing the risk of Q-fever as a component of workplace health and safety in meat processing facilities.

The Q-fever Register plays an important role in mitigating the risks of contracting Q-fever. However, there is clear evidence that the risk of infection extends well beyond the meat processing industry. In 2021, 37% of new registrants in the register were not employees of meat processing plants.

AMPC’s submission to Treasury presents some of the key insights AMPC has garnered as a result of administering the scheme. These insights raise an important public policy question as to whether the meat processing sector is best placed to continue maintaining the Q-fever Register. They have been provided to Treasury to inform its budget deliberations.

The AMPC submission is about getting the Q-fever Register incorporated into the Australian Immunisation Register.

Read more about AMPC’s insights and the full submission on this page.