Ms Kate Shipley1
1Department of Justice WA, Australia
Biography:
Kate is the Nurse Coordinator- Communicable Disease for the Department of Justice Western Australia. Kate’s role with Justice oversees Communicable Disease, Immunisation, Infection Prevention and Control and leads Outbreak Response for all 18 prison estates across Western Australia. Kate has worked in the Primary Health Sector for the majority of her 20+ year nursing career and has spent a large proportion of this time living and working in the Kimberley region, particularly in remote communities.
More recently Kate has relocated to Perth to take on her role with the Department of Justice where she is a strong advocate for improving outcomes in BBV and STI treatment and management, immunisation uptake and providing staff education and support to improve confidence in service delivery.
Kate holds a Master of Public Health, Graduate Certificate in Clinical Leadership and a Graduate Certificate in Child and Adolescent Health.
Abstract:
Custodial settings represent complex, high-risk environments for preventing and controlling communicable diseases. Traditional infection prevention and control strategies are often complicated by security requirements, collaboration with non-clinical staff, and factors including overcrowding, shared living environments, and variable health literacy among prisoners. Disease prevention is particularly important, as hospital transfers require substantial resources, disrupt operations, and generate significant costs.
To address historically low vaccine uptake within Western Australia (WA) Department of Justice (DOJ), where elevated communicable disease risk has been compounded by workforce shortages, limited access to immunisation-trained clinicians, and reduced clinical oversight. In response to WA’s diphtheria and measles outbreaks, the DOJ Communicable Disease Team launched a targeted public health initiative in 2026 to improve immunisation coverage across high-risk regional prisons through delivery of influenza, dTpa, 21vPCV, and MMR vaccination programs.
A cross-sector implementation framework was established with custodial leadership to secure operational buy-in and streamline collaboration. The intervention introduced novel mass vaccination delivery models previously unused in the prison sector. Key strategies included flexible clinical approaches to overcome staffing constraints, strengthened clinical governance, and tailored outreach for regional prison environments.
These prison-specific strategies successfully overcame long-standing operational barriers. Immunisation uptake exceeded 90% in all locations, representing a significant increase from historical baselines.
This initiative establishes a scalable and effective framework for disease prevention in custodial settings. By increasing immunisation coverage and reducing susceptibility to vaccine-preventable diseases, this strategy decreases outbreak-related morbidity, reduces hospitalisations, and minimises the significant security and operational resources associated with prisoner transfers to acute healthcare facilities.