PM pushes vaccines nationwide
The Federal Government wants to ban unvaccinated children from childcare centres.
Some states have stopped unvaccinated children from enrolling child care, but Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has written to premiers and chief ministers urging them to nationalise the rules.
“This has got to be a concerted national effort by all governments to ensure all our children can be vaccinated. No jab, no pay, no play,” he wrote.
Queensland, NSW and Victoria require children to be fully immunised or on an approved catch-up program to enrol at childcare centres, while NT, ACT, SA, WA or Tasmania can enrol unvaccinated kids.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says preventable diseases should be stopped.
“It matters because it's protecting children and against mumps and measles and shingles and whooping cough and conditions that can lead to agony or, as we see, real tragedies,” he told reporters.
“It's our duty as a government to try to protect every child, and there should be no barrier to any parent adopting this measure … if we don't do this we put innocent children, beautiful children, at risk.”
The Federal Opposition has backed the Prime Minister's push.
“I applaud Mr Turnbull standing up along with Labor against the anti-vaccination brigade,” Opposition leader Bill Shorten said.
“I've written to Mr Turnbull last week and said one thing the Federal Government can do without just putting all the problems back on the states is to have a national education campaign.”
The Australian Child Health Poll survey shows that of the 5 per cent of children not up to date with their vaccinations, one in six had been refused care.
The survey of almost 2000 parents also found that 74 per cent of parents want to be told how many children are not up to date with vaccines at their schools or childcare centres.
About 70 per cent of parents said that knowing how many under-vaccinated children were at a facility would influence their decision about where their kids go.
Even though 95 per cent of Australian children are fully vaccinated, the survey found one in three parents are concerned about vaccination.
One in 10 parents think vaccines could cause autism, while a further 30 per cent were unsure.
Medical research has found no causal link between vaccinations and autism.