2015/09: Should families that resist vaccinations be denied government benefits for their children?





Introduction to the media issue

Video clip at right:
On April 11, 2015, News Today ran a report in which the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, announced his government's intention to deny child benefits to parents who did not vaccinate their children. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.


What they said...
'Parents who vaccinate their children should have confidence that they can take their children to child care without the fear that their children will be at risk of contracting a serious or potentially life-threatening illness because of the conscientious objections of others...'
Media release from the Social Services Minister, Scott Morrison, and the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott

'It amounts to a form of mandatory vaccination for lower income families, but without a no-fault vaccine injury compensation system implemented alongside'
Dr Julie Leask, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, School of Public Health and the National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance

The issue at a glance
On April 12, 2015, the federal government announced that parents who refuse to vaccinate their children will not receive government benefits worth up to $15,000 per child.
Under current laws, families with children who are not immunised can still receive annual childcare rebates and other benefits if they have a personal, philosophical or religious objection. Under the proposed new guidelines 'conscientious objection' to vaccination would no longer be allowed for parents who refuse to vaccinate their children but still want to receive child care payments and family tax benefit supplements. The Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, announced that the regulations will be changed so that most of these exemptions will no longer apply.
In a joint media release from the Social Services Minister, Scott Morrison, and the Prime Minister, Mr Abbott stated, 'The choice made by families not to immunise their children is not supported by public policy or medical research, nor should such action be supported by taxpayers in the form of childcare payments.'