A painful jab to the wallet

Anti-vaxxers’ fortnightly benefits to be cut

THE families of 31,000 Victorian children have had family tax benefits taken off them because they have not immunised their kids.

They are among 137,000 families stripped of yearly payments worth more than $700 under the Federal Government’s tough “no jab, no pay” rules.

But an extra 210,000 kids have been vaccinated since the requirements were brought in, prompting Social Services Minister Christian Porter to hail it “an outstanding success”.

New figures show Victoria now boasts the nation’s highest rate of immunisation of five-year-olds at 94.04 per cent.

Immunisation rates of one and two-year-old children have also increased since the “no jab, no pay” requirement was introduced at the start of last year.

The Government will today introduce legislation to ramp up the pressure on parents who are not ensuring their kids are fully vaccinated.

If the changes pass Parliament, family tax payments will be slashed by $28 for every fortnight a child does not meet immunisation requirements, instead of parents losing the yearly lump sum.

“Reducing fortnightly payments, rather than withholding the supplement at the end of the year as occurs at present, will serve as an ongoing and immediate incentive for parents to get their children immunised,” Mr Porter said.

“(It) will help ensure that more children and the wider community will be protected from preventable diseases like whooping cough.

“The more immediate the financial impact, the more likely children will be vaccinated.”

As of June this year, 93.79 per cent of one-year-olds were fully vaccinated, along with 90.86 per cent of two-year-olds and 93.55 of five-year-olds.

“Encouraging as these rates are, immunisation coverage for all children falls short of the 95 per cent minimum herd immunity required to slow or stop the spread of disease,” Mr Porter said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt last month launched a $5.5 million education campaign targeting parents who were not fully vaccinating children for diseases including measles, whooping cough, chickenpox, meningococcal and polio.

“(It) will help ensure that more children and the wider community will be protected from preventable diseases like whooping cough.” SOCIAL SERVICES MINISTER CHRISTIAN PORTER