New policy ensures major repercussions for parents refusing to vaccinate

A new policy which is set to go into effect in Australia early this year is likely to raise much discussion among parents and families down under.

In an effort to encourage parents to vaccinate their children against disease, Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has announced that the government intends to withhold childcare rebates if parents refuse to have their child immunised.

The policy, which is informally known as 'No Jab, No Pay', was first announced in April of 2015 and will see families miss out on certain government benefits if they do not allow their child to avail of the vaccination service.

The move comes after the country experienced a major increase in the number of vaccine-preventable illness recorded between 2008 and 2014.

According to findings, the country had no record of vaccine-preventable illnesses in 2008, a statistic which was in stark contrast to the 2,614 cases recorded in 2014.

Commenting on the announcement, Prime Minister Abbott explained its importance, explaining: “It's a very important public health announcement, it's a very important measure to keep our children and our families as safe as possible.”

Currently, Australia's childhood vaccination rate stands at 90%, but officials insist that this needs to rise in order to protect the younger generation from illness.