Government Will End Benefits For Parents Who Do Not Vaccinate
It has been confirmed that the Government will end benefits for parents who do not vaccinate. This will effect the eligibility for taxpayer-funded payments (including Child Care Benefit, Child Care Rebate and the Family Tax Benefit Part A end of year supplement) will be dependent on children having met early childhood immunisation requirements.
The government will end the one religious exemption on children’s vaccinations (for the Church of Christ, Scientist, which apparently doesn’t advise against vaccinating children anyway!) for access to these payments from 1 January 2016.
The conscientious objector exemption on children’s vaccination has also ended, so the only authorised exemption from being required to have children immunised in order to receive benefits will be on medical grounds.
It is estimated that more than 39,000 children under age seven have not been vaccinated because their parents are vaccine objectors. This is an increase of more than 24,000 children over the last 10 years. Overall, 97% of children are vaccinated appropriately.
Abbott and Morrison said in their statement: “The Government is extremely concerned at the risk this poses to other young children and the broader community.”
“The choice made by families not to immunise their children is not supported by public policy or medical research nor should such action be supported by taxpayers in the form of child care payments.”
Therefore, parents may still decide to not vaccinate their children (as a ‘vaccination objector’), but they are no longer eligible for assistance from the Australian Government.
For more information, please give the office a call on 1300 788 491 or visit:- http://www.humanservices.gov.au
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