If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you must produce a clear Australian National Police Certificate issued by the Police service in the State in which you reside with no recorded issues documented on it. When applying for a National Police Certificate, please ensure that you complete the on-line application using your full legal name, including any middle name you may have and include any former name that you have used. A criminal record check can also be obtained from any one of the accredited bodies that are licenced to issue criminal record checks by the The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
From February 2019, students who are existing employees of NSW Health are not required to provide a criminal record check when submitting documentation for verification purposes. Students are to email HETI-ClinicalPlacements@health.nsw.gov.au and provide a copy of the students University photo ID, a copy of the students employment photo ID and the students existing Staff Link number. HETI will confirm your employment status and update your file accordingly. However, students will still be required to meet all mandatory immunisation requirements and sign the NSW Health Code of Conduct.
If you are an overseas student on a student visa, you must produce a National Police Certificate obtained from the Australian Federal Police and will be additionally required to provide a National Police Certificate from your home country and/or any other country you have been a citizen of or resided in for more than 6-months, since turning 18-years of age. To assist you in this requirement, please refer to the information listed here and review 'How do I obtain a Police Certificate?'. Then review the information accessed from the link 'relevant country' in order to determine which law enforcement authority, in the respective country you have resided in, that can issue you with a National Police Certificate; this certificate can be used when being screened by NSW Health.
Alternatively an overseas student on a student visa can provide a statutory declaration declaring that they have no criminal convictions in any country prior to entering Australia; this document must be countersigned by a Justice of the Peace, Legal Practitioner, Judicial Officer or any other person identified by relevant Government Acts that define who those relevant persons can be. Note; a person who intentionally makes a false statement in a statutory declaration is guilty of an offence, the punishment of which is imprisonment for a term of 5-years (NSW Oaths Act. 1900). When applying for a National Police Certificate, please ensure that you complete the on-line application using your full legal name, including any middle name you may have and include any former name that you have used.
New Zealand citizens who do not possess Australian citizenship or permanent residency status are considered an overseas student and this additional requirement applies to them also.
As stated above if you have issues recorded on your National Police Certificate you will be required to undergo further screening to obtain a Clinical Placement Authority Card by applying to the Employment Screening and Assessment Unit. Remember this applies to any issue recorded on the National Police Certificate, no matter how minor.
A criminal record check can also be obtained from any one of the accredited bodies that are licenced to issue criminal record checks by the The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
Compliance with NSW Health Immunisation requirements is mandatory and you must demonstrate that you have had the correct vaccinations and ensure your full immunisation history is recorded on the vaccination card. Students/facilitators often present with incomplete or missing documentation, which results in multiple return visits to the GP to obtain the correct documentation that is required for a complete and comprehensive immunisation review to take place by health staff. This review must be done prior to attending an on-campus verification session or supplying documentation for review. Health staff is limited for time to review multiple documents and childhood vaccination records. Remember, the 'Vaccination Record card for Healthcare Workers and Students' is required to be completed correctly.
This document is your permanent record as an adult and will be used as a baseline for all future screenings as well as when it comes time for you to seek employment in NSW Health. If it is not completed correctly, you will be required to return to the GP to have incomplete information added or rectified.
Ensure all childhood vaccination & immunisation history is recorded on the 'Vaccination Record card for Healthcare Workers and Students' and every entry has a signature, date and practice stamp affixed to validate every entry as legitimate. By ensuring this is done, NSW Health can be assured that the entry is not a fraudulent one. If the GP does not have a practice stamp, have them provide documentation on their letterhead, stating that they were the medical officer or accredited immunisation provider that administered the vaccinations listed.
Students are encouraged to review the supplied detailed advice provided to assist them to meet the mandatory requirements of NSW Health relating to their immunisation status review. This can sometimes be a complex, detailed and lengthy process. Follow the advice located here to assist in ensuring that all requirements are met. Missing, incomplete or poor quality documentation submitted will result in the student needing to return to their GP to have identified issues rectified. This can be time consuming for the student and possibly an expensive process. Review the information provided carefully to prevent this from occurring and use page 2 of the summary sheet as a check list prior to submitting documentation.
Remember the 'Vaccination Record card for Healthcare Workers and Students' is a legal document and must be completed as advised to be viewed as legitimate. This document, once completed correctly, will be used as a baseline for all future immunisation screenings as well as when you seek employment within NSW Health or any other health facility.
An example of how the 'Vaccination Record card for Healthcare Workers and Students' must be completed is located here.
A blank 'Vaccination Record card for Healthcare Workers and Students' is supplied here.
If you unable to provide documentary evidence of an age appropriate history of Hepatitis B vaccinations you will be required to complete & submit Hepatitis B Vaccination Declaration; this must be countersigned by your GP or accredited immunisation provider and presented when attending an on campus verification session. The GP or accredited immunisation provider must record on the vaccination card that a 'verbal history with stat dec.' has been supplied by you; that is, you have stated that you have had an age appropriate course of Hepatitis B vaccinations. This entry must then be signed, dated and have a practice stamp affixed to validate the entry.
Serology that is supplied as supplemental evidence must be in English. Of particular note is the serology report for rubella. This is required to determine if you are immune to this disease as several companies perform this test and the only way reviewing health staff can determine if you are immune to this disease or not, is to review the 'notes section' on the serology report, as this is sometimes overlooked.
If you have spent more than three-months at any time in a country identified as a 'high risk' for Tuberculosis or have been exposed to Tuberculosis in any form you will be required to undergo Tuberculosis screening. This can be either as a Mantoux test OR IGRA blood test. If you have a Mantoux test, ensure the GP records on the vaccination card if you HAVE or HAVE NOT had a BCG previously administered as this will determine if further Tuberculosis testing is required, in the form of a 'two-step' Mantoux test.
To determine if you require TB screening ensure that Tuberculosis (TB) Assessment Tool is fully completed and provided to your GP or accredited immunisation provider.
When presenting immunisation documentation, you will also be required to complete and submit both Undertaking Declaration Form and Tuberculosis (TB) Assessment Tool.
A list of high risk countries for Tuberculosis is located here.
To assist the GP to manage a positive Mantoux or IGRA test, advice is supplied here.
To review the risks and complications associated with exposure to infectious diseases review the information located here.
Students enrolled in Medicine, Midwifery, Paramedicine and Dentistry & Oral Health will be required to complete and provide additional documentation which relates to NSW PD2019_026; students who undertake Exposure Prone Procedures (EPPs) must undergo testing for Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) at the commencement of study in Australia or within the 12 months prior to commencement of a clinical degree. They must complete this Declaration and have it verified by NSW Health before the first clinical placement. This process is then to be repeated every three years with a new declaration form completed by the student and submitted to NSW Health to update their ClinConnect file.
So, in summary when supplying immunisation documentation for review you must always provide the following documentation to health staff:
- Summary sheet - make sure the student section is completed.
- Vaccination card completed by your GP or accredited immunisation provider as per the advice provided here.
- Serology report for Rubella
- Undertaking Declaration Form and Tuberculosis (TB) Assessment Tool
- ONLY provide a completed Hepatitis B Vaccination Declaration if you are unable to provide your GP or accredited immunisation provider with evidence of a history of age appropriate Hepatitis B vaccinations and remember to have the GP record on the vaccination card that a statutory declaration has been signed confirming that an age appropriate dose of Hepatitis B vaccinations has been previously administered.
- Serology reports which must be in English or a document which has been officially translated into English.
- If enrolled in one of the identified disciplines above, ensure that the BBV form has been completed correctly noting the date of your last Hep B/C, HIV test and complete the document in full by initialling each section. This information will be added to your ClinConnect file.
- Ensure that when the annual influenza vaccination is released to the general public (usually from Mid-March) that this is administered as soon as it becomes available as it has been shown that it can take a couple of weeks to take full effect. Provide this information on the vaccination card ensuring that the entry has a signature, date and practice stamp to validate the entry as legitimate, to your education provider. The section of your ClinConnect file relating to the administration of the annual influenza vaccination will be updated to prevent the requirement that you take evidence of the annual flu vax to each subsequent clinical placement, during that calendar year. The process is then repeated in each subsequent year. This evidence must be provided no later than 1 June annually; influenza season is generally classified as beginning 1 June and ending 30 September and the vaccination (when available) can be administered at the USYD medical centre on main campus https://www.sydney.edu.au/campus-life/health-wellbeing-success/health-services.html
NSW Health constantly strives to provide a safe working environment for its staff, visitors and most importantly the patients that utilise their services. By ensuring you are compliant with mandatory immunisation requirements you will be protecting yourself and others with whom you come into contact with.
Remember, the vaccination card is a legal document and must be completed correctly. The 'Vaccination Record card for Healthcare Workers and Students' is your record as an adult and will be used as a baseline for all future immunisation screenings as well as when you seek employment with NSW Health. As stated above by following this advice the potential of multiple return visits to your GP or accredited immunisation provider to get your documentation correct will be avoided if the advice is followed - so read what is supplied and supply what has been requested.
