Centrelink: an innovative urban intervention for improving adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access to vaccination

ObjectiveTo report the effectiveness of a targeted vaccine intervention conducted using opportunistic, non-traditional clinic settings to extend coverage to urban adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.MethodsA retrospective clinical audit of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease and Influenza vaccine coverage during 2004–2009, with case study comparison of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients vaccinated at five clinic settings in 2008.ResultsFrom 2005, when Centrelink was first included as a vaccination clinic site, until 2009, attendance there more than doubled (159 to 441), with a 3-fold increase in vaccines administered (204 to 667). Anincreasing proportion of clients have been vaccinated each year at the Centrelink site, compared with decreasing average attendance in all other opportunistic sites.DiscussionCentrelink was an effective opportunistic site for vaccinating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in an urban catchment area, in particular successfully targeting younger adults. The strategy was later replicated when administering H1N1 vaccines.ImplicationsThis innovative strategy is potentially transferable to a wide range of public health inventions urgently needed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other hard-to-reach potentially disadvantaged groups.