Benefits cut threat to boost jabs push

PARENTS who refuse to vaccinate their children will lose welfare payments every fortnight, instead of once a year, under tougher no-jab no-pay rules being proposed today.

Parents of about 32,000 Queensland children have already lost payments under the existing no-jab no-pay scheme.

But the rules could see potentially thousands more parents who earn more $80,000 caught up in the scheme for the first time as well.

Under current rules, parents whose children aren’t fully vaccinated lose their Family Tax Benefit A end-ofyear supplement of $737.

But under new laws to be introduced today, they will instead lose $28 a fortnight out their FTB payments, giving them immediate incentive to get their children’s jabs up to date.

It would come out of payments of up to $182.84 a fortnight for parents with children aged up to 12 years old, or $237.86 a fortnight for 13-19 year olds.

The change also means parents who earn more than $80,000 a year – which means they don’t qualify for the endof-year supplement – will be slugged for the first time.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter said the initial program had already seen 210,000 families get their kids immunised since it was introduced in 2016.

“By reducing fortnightly payments, rather than withholding the supplement at the end of the year, parents will have an immediate incentive to have their children immunised,” he said. “The more immediate the financial impact, the more likely children will be vaccinated within optimum time frames to ensure the most effective coverage against disease.”

Health Department figures show both nationally and in Queensland, the population is below the 95 per cent immunisation target.