‘No Jab No Pay’ program lifts vaccination rates as some Victorian areas fall behind

NEW laws allowing the federal government to withhold payments from parents who fail to vaccinate their children have led to increased vaccination rates.

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NEW laws allowing the federal government to withhold payments from parents who fail to vaccinate their children have led to increased vaccination rates.

But in some areas in Victoria, vaccination rates remain below 90 per cent, the minimum level required to provide “herd immunity’’ from serious diseases such as measles.

The government has provided updated figures from its “No Jab No Pay’’ program, which from January 1 allows the government to withhold family tax benefits and childcare subsidies from parents who do not vaccinate their children.

The figures show that in Victoria, 92.18 per cent of children aged 12-15 months were fully immunised as at December last year.

That compares to the previous December, where 90.83 per cent of children were fully immunised. The national figure rose from 90.69 per cent to 92.28 per cent.

In Victoria, the percentage of children of all ages with a “contentious objection’’ listing from their parents was 1.19 per cent, down from 1.59 per cent the previous year.

92.18 per cent of Victorian children aged 12-15 months were fully immunised as at December 2015.

The worst areas in Victoria for immunisation were Mildura (88.07 per cent), Heathcote-Castlemaine-Kyneton (88.12 per cent) and Melbourne city, (88.57 per cent).

The areas with the best vaccination rates were Moira, where 97.8 per cent of children aged 12-15 months were vaccinated, followed by Sunbury (97.35 per cent) and Darebin South (97.19 per cent).

Social services minister Christian Porter said the figures were welcome news.

“They show that the message is getting through and that the policy had an impact as soon as it was announced,’’ he said.

“Before No Jab No Pay began we knew that in some specific regions there were some good outcomes and some very disappointing ones.

“The low-vaccination hot spots that we identified before this policy began were cause for concern, and represent terrible outcomes for the children in those communities.

Vaccinations for children under 10 are provided free.

Education minister Simon Birmingham said the government was not taking away a parent’s right to choose not to immunise their child.

“We’re simply saying that if they do make this choice, the Turnbull government and taxpayers won’t contribute to the cost of their child care,” Senator Birmingham said.

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