By working together and rolling up our sleeves, we can reduce pressure on our hospitals
As winter approaches the southern hemisphere, Western Australia has launched a free vaccination campaign shaped by the memory of last year's record flu season — one that strained hospitals and fell hardest on the elderly and the very young. The 'Be Wise, Immunise' initiative reflects a quiet but urgent truth: that individual health choices ripple outward, and that a community's resilience is built not in crisis, but in the careful preparation that precedes it.
- Last year's flu season hit WA harder than almost any on record, flooding hospitals with elderly patients and children under five.
- The pressure on emergency departments exposed just how fragile the health system becomes when seasonal illness is left to run unchecked.
- The state is now offering free flu vaccines statewide — including FluMist, a needle-free inhaled option for children aged 2 to 11 — to lower the barriers to protection.
- Pop-up vaccination clinics at AFL games at Optus Stadium bring the campaign directly into the crowd, turning a Saturday afternoon into a chance to get immunised.
- With winter still weeks away, the government is racing to build community immunity before the cold months arrive and hospital pressure mounts again.
Western Australia is heading into winter with a clear memory of what last year cost. The 2025 flu season was among the worst the state had recorded, with hospitalisation rates climbing sharply among adults over 65 and children under four — the two groups least equipped to fight off serious infection on their own. This year, the government is trying to get ahead of it.
The 'Be Wise, Immunise' campaign offers free flu vaccines to all WA residents, with a particular nod to families: FluMist, a needle-free vaccine inhaled rather than injected, is now available for children aged two to eleven. For parents who know the particular difficulty of convincing a small child to accept a needle, it's a meaningful change.
Premier Roger Cook framed the effort as collective rather than individual — a reminder that vaccination protects not just the person who receives it, but the people around them who may not be able to protect themselves. To make that case as easy to act on as possible, St John WA is running pop-up clinics at AFL games at Optus Stadium across May, meeting people in the places they already choose to be.
The timing is deliberate. Launching in early May gives the state a window of several weeks to build coverage before the flu season peaks. Last year's strain on hospitals — the occupied beds, the stretched staff, the pressure on emergency departments — is the reason this campaign exists. The hope is that enough people saying yes now will mean fewer people in crisis later.
Western Australia is offering free flu shots to its residents as the state heads into winter, hoping to spare hospitals from the kind of crush they faced last year. The "Be Wise, Immunise" campaign represents a direct response to what officials are calling one of the worst flu seasons on record in 2025, when hospitalizations spiked among two vulnerable groups: adults over 65 and children between six months and four years old.
The free vaccination program is straightforward in its ambition. Get more people vaccinated, the logic goes, and fewer people end up in hospital beds when the cold months arrive. It's a preventive measure dressed as a public health campaign, but the numbers behind it are real. Last year proved that WA's health system can be overwhelmed by seasonal flu, and this year the government is trying to build a wall of immunity before that happens again.
What makes this push slightly different is the inclusion of FluMist, a needle-free vaccine option for children aged two to eleven. For parents who dread the annual battle of getting their kids to sit still for a shot, this is a genuine alternative. The vaccine is inhaled rather than injected, which removes at least one source of resistance from the equation.
Premier Roger Cook framed the campaign in the language of collective action. "By working together and rolling up our sleeves," he said, we can reduce the strain on hospitals and protect the community. The phrase carries a certain weight—the idea that vaccination is not just a personal health choice but a shared responsibility, a way of looking out for people who cannot look out for themselves.
To make vaccination accessible, the state is deploying pop-up clinics at AFL games at Optus Stadium on May 2, 7, and 17. St John WA is running these clinics, bringing the vaccine to places where people already gather. It's a practical approach: meet people where they are, remove friction from the process, make it easy to say yes.
The campaign's timing is deliberate. Winter in Australia runs from June through August, so launching this push in early May gives the state roughly a month to build vaccination coverage before the season truly hits. Last year's experience—the hospitalizations, the pressure on emergency departments, the strain on staff—is still fresh enough to motivate action but far enough away that people might need reminding of why it matters.
The vulnerability of the elderly and very young is not incidental to this story. These groups cannot always fight off influenza on their own. They are the ones most likely to develop complications, to need hospital care, to occupy beds that might otherwise be available for other emergencies. Protecting them through vaccination is not just about their individual health; it's about system capacity, about making sure the hospital can still function when the flu arrives.
Notable Quotes
Last year, WA recorded one of the worst flu seasons on record—our best defence this winter is for more of us to get vaccinated.— Premier Roger Cook
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why launch this campaign now, in May, when flu season is still months away?
Because immunity takes time to build. If you wait until June or July, you're already in the thick of it. You want people vaccinated before the virus starts circulating heavily.
Last year was described as one of the worst flu seasons on record. What made it so bad?
The source doesn't say exactly, but the hospitalization rates tell you something—elderly people and very young children were hit hardest. That suggests the virus was circulating widely and hitting the vulnerable populations hardest.
Why include FluMist specifically for children?
It removes a barrier. Kids are afraid of needles. Parents know this. If you can offer a vaccine that doesn't require a shot, more families will actually get it done. That's the whole point—higher vaccination rates.
The pop-up clinics at AFL games seem like an odd choice. Why there?
It's not odd at all. You're meeting people in a place they're already going, where they're in a social mood, where getting vaccinated becomes just another thing you do that day. You're removing the friction of having to make a separate trip to a clinic.
What happens if vaccination rates don't improve?
Then hospitals face the same pressure they did last year. Beds fill up. Staff get stretched thin. People with other emergencies might wait longer. That's what the campaign is trying to prevent.
Is this just about individual health, or is there something bigger?
It's both. Yes, getting vaccinated protects you. But it also protects people who can't get vaccinated—newborns, people with certain allergies, immunocompromised patients. That's why the government frames it as collective action.