LOCALS have chimed in on the national debate over parents’ right to choose whether to vaccinate their children.
From January 1 next year, parents who skip their child’s vaccination will not receive childcare and family tax payments — worth up to $15,000 per child — after Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced he was closing the “conscientious objector” loophole.
However, parents can still receive the benefits if they can prove their objection to vaccination is for medical reasons or if they belong to an unspecified religious group opposed to the practice.
“Parents who vaccinate their children should have confidence that they can take their children to childcare without the fear that their children will be at risk of contracting a serious or potentially life-threatening illness because of the conscientious objections of others,” Mr Abbott told reporters at a press conference.
The decision has led to a spirited debate on The Guardian’s Facebook page, with 42 comments and a number of replies to them.
The majority of comments agreed the Abbott Government’s move was a fair one, but five people voiced their concern with it and one of them produced the most “liked” comment of the post.
As the public debated the issue, Swan Hill’s immunisation program coordinator Melanie Bennett told The Guardian the program’s uptake was down overall.
“Rates of immunisation have probably been down a little bit, but they have been Australia-wide, it’s not necessarily just a local issue,” Ms Bennett said.
“At the end of the day, we want everyone to get vaccinated to protect those people that can’t be vaccinated for whatever reason, whether it be a medical reason or whatever.”
She said council has been trying to “get a little bit more information out there about our sessions and when they’re available”, with research showing the biggest barrier to people getting immunised was not conscientious objectors, but lack of access to and knowledge of immunisation programs.
With a lot of information out there to navigate through, Ms Bennett encouraged people to give council a call so her Public Health and Regulatory Services team could give them information specific to their individual situation.
“They’re best to contact us and we can give them some the relevant information because there is a lot of confusing information out there in the media or on Facebook,” she said.
For more on this story and others, grab a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (April 15).
