Netball Victoria is hosting a free Koorie Clinic and Introduction to Umpiring Workshop at Eagle Stadium during the school holidays.

St Albans/Caroline Springs Netball Association School Holiday Koorie Clinic and Umpire Workshop- Eagle Stadium

Date: Monday 13 April

Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm

Clinic: Ages 5–17 years
Umpiring Workshop: Ages 12+ years

Additional information can also be found on the Netball Victoria website under

First Nations Events & Programs - Netball VIC

Get ready for the school holidays

As the end of term one approaches, it's time to get families thinking about how they can stay safe and well through the school holidays and into winter.

In this edition you will find:

Car seat safety tips ahead of the school holidays
Information on the flu vaccine, intranasal vaccine options and support for children with needle phobia
A preview of our upcoming podcast season on support for parents in navigating the common social, emotional and behavioural challenges experienced by children, young people.

It's time to talk about flu vaccination

The flu vaccine is the best and safest way to protect children from becoming sick with the flu. Influenza vaccines will be available in Australia from April, making the school holiday break a good time for families to get their vaccinations sorted. In 2025, low vaccination rates and a high caseload of influenza led to the highest number of influenza related deaths in this century. Help provide education that changes this in 2026 by sharing resources and support with your community.

Influenza Kids Health Info fact sheet

Flu vaccine Kids Health Info fact sheet

The intranasal flu vaccine is a needle-free alternative to the traditional flu injection. It delivers the flu vaccine through the nose in the form of a nasal spray.

In late 2025, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved the intranasal flu vaccine ‘FluMist’ for use in children aged two to less than 18 years. FluMist has been used safely for many years in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

The intranasal flu vaccine is not currently part of the Australian National Immunisation Program Schedule; this means that in Victoria, parents will have to pay for their child to get it.

Here are some simple talking points to share with families to help them prepare their child for flu vaccination:

The flu vaccine is free for children aged six months to five years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, pregnant women and people with medical conditions (such as chronic heart or lung disease, low immunity or diabetes).
The flu vaccine is safe and effective for children and adults. All vaccines available in Australia must pass strict safety testing before being approved for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
If your child is allergic or anaphylactic to eggs, they can still safely get the flu vaccine. These allergies do not increase the risk of allergic reaction or side effects from the vaccine.
Your child can get the flu vaccine at the same time as other vaccines on the National Immunisation Program. Multiple vaccines at once do not overwhelm the immune system or cause increased side effects.

What are families curious about this month?

Here's a selection of the most popular Kids Health Info fact sheets over the past month. Take a look to see if any might interest your community:

Impetigo (school sores)

Fever in children

Pneumonia

Don't forget, many of our popular fact sheets are available in multiple languages. Click here to explore available translations.

What's important to share with teens this month?

We've just added a sun safety fact sheet for teens. If you are working with young people aged 14 to 25, this fact sheet and our suite of Teen Health Info fact sheets will help answer any questions they might have.

Contraception

Screentime and social media

Vaping

Each fact sheet has a paired version for parents and caregivers to support them in understanding what their teen is experiencing.

Follow Infectious Info on Instagram to see health info for young people, by young people.

Here are a few pieces you might like to share in your Story park or family-facing newsletter, or reshare on your own social media accounts:

Are kids in the safest car seat for their size?

Head of the RCH Trauma Service, Dr Warwick Teague, explains why it’s crucial to keep kids in booster seats for every car ride until they can pass the ‘5 step test’, which usually happens when they reach10 or 11 years of age.

Share this reel with families so they can check if their child is in the appropriate type of car seat before heading off on school holidays.

View the post on Instagram

Spotting these signs could save a life

Symptoms of an allergic reaction can range from mild to life-threatening, so it’s important to know which symptoms to lookout for which may need emergency care. Share with colleagues, parents and caregivers so they can confidently spot the signs of anaphylaxis.

View the post on Instagram

Navigating needle phobia

Nurse Practitioner Lynne from the RCH Immunisation Service shares her top tips to help families have a successful vaccination appointment.

Share this short video with your community to help prepare them ahead of flu and routine school vaccinations.

View the post on Instagram

Learn more about Medicare

Do you work with young people aged 15 and over? They may not be aware that they're eligible to register for their very own Medicare card!

Share this video created by our youth content creators so they can take charge of their healthcare and learn what they are eligible for.

View the post on Instagram

Do you work with young people interested in content creation?

The Royal Children’s Hospital is looking for young people aged 14 – 25 who have an interest in content creation that promotes health messaging to other young people.

If you know a young person who is keen to learn more about how they can create short form social media content that spreads trustworthy health information, let them know about our work! All contributors will receive a gift card and recognition for their work as well as training and upskilling from staff at The Royal Children’s Hospital.

Young people can get involved in this project by:

Creating short videos, animations or static posts about health topics and sending them to us (they don’t have to come to the RCH to participate)
Joining monthly in-person content creation sessions at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville – our next session is on April 16th

If this sounds like someone you know, they can register by completing the form below. After completing the form, they will get regular emails about upcoming content creation sessions and information on the health topics to create content about.

Youth Advisory Collective Sign-Up Form

New kids Health Info podcast season coming soon

The new season of the Kids Health Info podcast is set to launch on Tuesday March 31, so now is the time to hit 'follow' and keep an eye on your feed for the new episodes.

This season our host, Dr Anthea Rhodes, will be joined by guests from The Royal Children's Hospital's Psychology Department to provide support for parents in navigating the common social, emotional and behavioural challenges experienced by children, young people. From ADHD, anxiety and autism, through to offering support for parents navigating a new diagnosis in their family, this season will cover topics that help parents build out their tool kit.

Search 'Kids Health Info' on your preferred podcast app and hit 'follow' now.

All episodes can also be viewed on YouTube.

Click here to explore the Kids Health Info podcast library on our website.

Help us improve our resources

It's so exciting to continue to see our subscriber numbers grow each month, but we want to make sure we're putting energy into creating the best resources for you and your community. Complete our short survey and let us know what you want to find in this newsletter across 2026.

Provide feedback

Kids Health Info is funded thanks to the support of the Good Friday Appeal

TERM 1 AWARDS

Congratulation to all our Term 1 Award winners!