AusVaxSafety marks a decade of progress in vaccine safety

AusVaxSafety, alongside longtime collaborators The Kids Research Institute Australia, SmartVax and Vaxtracker, has looked back on 10 years of vaccine surveillance in Australia at an anniversary event in Sydney.

The event, held late last week, showcased AusVaxSafety’s central role in advancing active vaccine safety surveillance and research in Australia since 2014 – as well as its impact as a global leader in the field.

An eventful history

AusVaxSafety is a national collaboration between immunisation providers, private enterprise, research institutions, state and territory governments, and the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – and a key pillar of Australia’s capability to monitor, detect and respond to vaccine safety events. 

Its origins can be traced to 2010, when the use of seasonal trivalent influenza (flu) vaccines in children aged under 5 years was halted nationally after an unexpectedly high number of children experienced febrile convulsions following flu vaccination. 

In the wake of that safety event, various standalone vaccine safety projects sprung up around Australia. Building on their successes, in 2014 NCIRS – with funding from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – brought them together to coordinate a consistent national approach to vaccine safety and surveillance.

Rapid growth

In its early years, AusVaxSafety focused primarily on monitoring the safety of flu vaccine formulations in young children. Over time, it grew in scope to include flu vaccine surveillance across all ages and surveillance of new vaccines, such as meningococcal B.

More recently, the program has expanded to include ongoing surveillance of the safety of all vaccines used on the National Immunisation Program (NIP) and vaccines for emerging diseases, including COVID-19 and mpox. 

More than 7.5 million vaccine safety survey responses have been amassed since the start of 2021. 

Looking ahead

At the Sydney event, representatives from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and World Health Organization, as well as peers from the US and Canadian active vaccine safety surveillance systems V-safe and CANVAS, spoke of AusVaxSafety’s crucial place in Australia’s vaccine pharmacovigilance system – one of the most robust in the world – and its international influence. 

In a panel discussion, Australian vaccine safety experts, including NCIRS Director Professor Kristine Macartney, reflected on the moments that have shaped AusVaxSafety – including the high-pressure, high-stakes COVID-19 vaccine rollout. 
They also discussed potential future improvements to the system to ensure the program continues to adapt to the rapidly changing vaccine landscape.

In partnership with the TGA, AusVaxSafety remains at the heart of vaccine safety in Australia, providing reassurance to the public through regularly updated real-world safety data and making a vital contribution to the international evidence base on pharmacovigilance.

Explore AusVaxSafety's history