AN ACT to amend the Law

Vaccination.

amend the Law relating to A.D. 1898. [7 September, 1898.]

WHEREAS it is expedient to repeal "The Vaccination Act, 1882," PREAMBLE.

and to make other provision in lieu thereof:

Be it therefore enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:-

1 This Act may be cited as "The Vaccination Act, 1898."

2 In this Act, unless the context otherwise determines

46 Vict. No. 19.

Short title.

Interpretation.

"District" means a Registration District under "The Regis- 59 Vict. No. 9.

tration of Births and Deaths Act, 1895":

"Medical Practitioner" means a legally qualified Medical

Practitioner, and includes a Vaccinator :

"Parent" includes any person having the custody of a child :
"Prescribed" means prescribed by any Regulations made under
this Act:

66

Registrar" means the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and
Marriages in every District.

3 "The Vaccination Act, 1882," is hereby repealed.

Repeal of

46 Vict. No. 19.

A.D. 1898.

Appointment of
Vaccinators.

Vaccinator to vaccinate gratuitously, and attend where requested.

Remuneration to
Vaccinators.

Vaccinators

Vaccination.

4-(1.) Every Medical Practitioner shall, unless he objects thereto, be appointed by the Governor in Council a Vaccinator for the purposes of this Act for such District or Districts as the Governor in Council sees fit.

(2.) The Governor in Council may appoint one or more Vaccinators to be Inspectors to see that vaccination is efficiently carried out in the prescribed manner; and the Governor in Council may appoint such other officers as may be necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Act; and any of such Vaccinators or officers may be removed at any time, and others appointed in the place of those removed.

5 Every Vaccinator shall vaccinate gratuitously in the manner prescribed all children and others brought or applying to him for the declared purpose of being gratuitously vaccinated, and shall, when requested by the Central Board of Health, attend at any place as may be stated in such request and vaccinate any child as aforesaid. And the Vaccinator shall for such attendance receive such mileage rates as may be prescribed to be paid for the purpose in addition to the remuneration hereinafter provided.

6 There shall be payable, out of such moneys as may be voted by Parliament for that purpose, to each Vaccinator for each person not previously vaccinated within Seven years, and who is successfully vaccinated by such Vaccinator, such sum of money not exceeding Five Shillings as may be prescribed to be paid for that purpose. No Vaccinator shall charge or receive from any person brought or applying under the provisions of the preceding Section of this Act any fee or reward for or in respect of any act performed or any certificate given by him under this Act, except certificates of postponement of vaccination.

7 Every Vaccinator shall keep a Register of Vaccinations and of to keep Register. the results thereof on the Eighth day thereafter in such form as shall be prescribed.

Parents to cause children to be Vaccinated.

8 The parent of every child in Tasmania whether born in Tasmania or elsewhere, after the commencement of this Act shall, within Twelve months after the birth of such child, cause such child to be vaccinated by a Medical Practitioner, or shall notify to the Vaccinator of his District that he is willing to have his child vaccinated at such time as may be arranged; and any parent who neglects or refuses to have such child vaccinated, or refuses or neglects to notify the Vaccinator of his District as aforesaid, or neglects or refuses to submit such child to such Medical Practitioner for inspection on the Eighth day after the operation shall have been performed, and shall not render a reasonable excuse for such neglect. or refusal, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding Five Pounds.

Provided that if such parent shall, within Twelve months after the birth of such child, forward to the Registrar of the District a statutory declaration made before a Justice of the Peace, that he conscientiously believes that vaccination will be permanently detrimental to the health of such child, he shall be deemed to have rendered a reasonable excuse for neglecting to have such child vaccinated, and upon production of such declaration or a certified copy such person shall not be liable to any penalty under this Section.

Vaccination.

No child or

9 No child or person shall be deemed to have been successfully A.D. 1898. vaccinated unless such child or person shall be afterwards examined by the Medical Practitioner performing the operation, and unless a certificate shall have been given by such Medical Practitioner that such deemed vaccinated child or person has been successfully vaccinated.

10 The Central Board of Health shall supply sufficient calf lymph to all Vaccinators for the purpose of vaccinating children submitted to them for vaccination; and the parent of any child shall be entitled to demand that any Vaccinator shall use calf lymph in vaccinating such

child.

person to be

unless examined.

Calf lymph to be supplied and used

if demanded.

11 Upon and immediately after the successful vaccination of any When vaccination child or person, the Medical Practitioner who performs the operation successful Practishall prepare, in duplicate, a certificate in the form in the Schedule tioner to certify. (1.) that such child or person has been successfully vaccinated.

person or child for vaccination.

12 If any Medical Practitioner shall be of opinion that any person Provision for the or child applying or brought to him for vaccination is not in a fit and unfitness of such proper state to be successfully vaccinated, he shall forthwith prepare a certificate in duplicate under his hand in the form in the Schedule (2.) that such person or child is then in a state unfit for successful vaccination, which certificate shall remain in force for such period, not exceeding Three calendar Months, as such Medical Practitioner shall deem necessary, and shall be renewable from time to time for a like period until some Medical Practitioner deems such person or child to be in a fit state for successful vaccination, when such person or child shall, with all reasonable despatch, be vaccinated, and the certificate of successful vaccination duly given if warranted by the result.

cates.

13 At or before the end of each period mentioned in any certificate Provision for of unfitness for vaccination, such person shall submit himself, or the successive certiparent of such child shall take or cause the child to be taken, to some Medical Practitioner, and such Medical Practitioner shall then examine such person or child and prepare in duplicate the certificate under his hand in the form in the Schedule (2.) so long as he deems requisite under the circumstances of the case.

14 In the event of any Medical Practitioner being of opinion, after Three successive vaccinations, that any such person or child is insusceptible of the vaccine disease, or that any such person or child coming or brought to him for vaccination has already had the Small-pox, he shall prepare in duplicate a certificate under his hand, according to the form in the Schedule (3.); and such person or child shall thenceforth not be required to be vaccinated. The Vaccinator for every such certificate shall be paid the same remuneration as for successful vaccination.

If child or person insusceptible of vaccine disease

Practitioner to certify the same.

15 la every case where any Medical Practitioner prepares a Vaccinator to certificate of vaccination, or of postponement of vaccination, or of give certificate to. insusceptibility to vaccine disease, as herein before provided, in respect and to transmit parent of child, of any child born in Tasmania, he shall immediately thereupon give duplicate certifione copy thereof to the parent of such child, and transmit the cate to Registrar. duplicate for registration to the Registrar of the District within which the child referred to in such certificate was born, under the penalty of Twenty Shillings for each omission.

Vaccination.

16 On the registration of the birth of any child born after the commencement of this Act, the Registrar shall deliver by post or otherwise to the person registering such birth a notice in the form in the Schedule (4.), which notice shall set forth such other particulars in regard to the provisions of this Act as shall be prescribed.

17-(1.) Every Registrar shall, upon the receipt of any such certificate or declaration as is herein before mentioned, enter in the Register of Births kept by him, in the column headed "Name, if any," the word "Vaccinated" in the case of every child whose vaccination has been certified to him as herein provided, and the words "Insusceptible" or "had Small-pox" in the case of every child who has been certified as aforesaid to be insusceptible of the vaccine disease or to have had Small-pox, or "Vaccination objected to" in the case of every child whose parent forwards a declaration that he conscientiously believes that vaccination may be detrimental to such child; and if the name of any child mentioned in any such certificate shall not be written in the said column, such of the said words, as the case may require, shall be written in the said column in the space set apart for the name, and shall add thereto the date of the certificate or declaration, as the case may be.

(2.) Every Registrar shall also keep a Book in the form in the Schedule (5.), in which he shall from time to time enter the name of every child whose vaccination has been duly certified to him as necessarily postponed, and the date of the certificate, and the period for which the vaccination is postponed, and each entry in such book shall refer to the corresponding entry in the Register of Births of the birth of each such child and such book shall be open for search at all reasonable times, and the Registrar shall give a copy, certified under his hand, of each entry therein, on payment of a fee of One Shilling for each search, and Sixpence additional for each certificate.

:

(3.) There shall be payable out of such moneys as may be voted by Parliament for that purpose, to each Registrar, not in receipt of a fixed salary in that capacity, for the registration of the successful vaccination of each child in his district, a fee of One Shilling.

18 Every Registrar shall, within One week after the First day of the months of January, April, July, and October in each year, prepare and forward to the Central Board of Health a Return, in such form as may be prescribed, of all children whose births have been registered by such Registrar, and whose ages on the said First day of January, April, July, aud October, as the case may be, are not less than Twelve months and not more than Fifteen months respectively, and in respect of whom certificates relating to vaccination have not been received by such Registrar; and also a Return, in such form as may be prescribed, of the deaths of all children whose ages are not less than Nine months nor more than Twelve months, during the same period.

19 Any person who produces or attempts to produce in any person, by inoculation with variolous matter, or by wilful exposure to variolous matter, or to any matter, article, or thing impregnated with variolous matter, or wilfully by any other means whatever produces in any person the disease of Small-pox in Tasmania, shall forfeit the sum of Fifty Pounds.