‘No Jab, No Play’: How Australia Is Handling the Vaccination Debate

‘No Jab, No Play’: How Australia Is Handling the Vaccination Debate
In 2016, with a global vaccination debate swelling, the Australian federal government introduced another variation, this one called "no jab, no pay," under which parents of unvaccinated children lose government benefits
and welfare rebates — costing them up to 15,000 Australian dollars in some cases.
"You are 10,000 times more likely to be brain damaged by measles than you are by its vaccination." Dr. Gannon has described choosing not to vaccinate children as "a form of child abuse." Like
the Australian government, medical bodies point to a 95 percent immunization rate as the ideal for "herd immunity" — a level of community vaccination that quells major disease outbreaks.
"I’m not particularly interested in hearing an argument
that isn’t based in science." Laws in other Australian states give child care centers the right to turn away unvaccinated children, either permanently, or during periods of outbreak.
Though several states and countries around the world require vaccination for school-aged children, Australia’s
policy of withholding child care benefits was the first such action of its kind in the world.
Though legislation to bar the unvaccinated from child care centers is a state matter in Australia, the federal government has made clear
that it wants similar legislation passed across the country.
Health wrote that The Australian government believes there is no excuse for parents
who, without a valid medical reason, choose not to immunize their children,