Can a school or ECE Service get a child's immunisation record from the Aoteroa Immunisation Register (AIR)

Schools and ECE Services can request NIR information from Health New Zealand without parental authorisation, if there are grounds that mean it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to public health or public safety. For example, when an outbreak of an infectious diesase has been declared. However, this should only happen where obtaining consent is either not reasonable or not practicable.

The Health Information Privacy Code (HIPC) is a modified version of the Information Privacy Principles that applies to the health sector and provides rules for the use and sharing of health information by health agencies. The HIPC states that a health agency can disclose health information to a person other than the learner (or their representative) if disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to public health or safery (or the health and safety of an individual).  

The decision about whether to disclose AIR information rests with Health New Zealand.

Health New Zealand can disclose relevant AIR information about identifiable learners that have not been immunised for the purposes of managing an outbreak of an infectious disease.

Read more information about AIR.(external link) We suggest that you contact the Ministry with your specific request or to seek further advice.

Updated November 2025