During 2003-4 three new vaccines were added to the schedule of recommended vaccines for Australians (an additional change to the schedule, recommending that polio immunisation be changed from oral to injected (IPD) vaccine, will not be discussed here). These vaccines protect against serogroup C meningococcal disease, some strains of Pneumococcal disease, and chicken pox [17] . For the first time, not all of these recommended vaccines will be funded by Government.