Australian Government Wants Unvaccinated Children To Be Banned From Childcare Centres

The Federal Government has proposed to ban unvaccinated children from all childcare centres and preschools across Australia.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull plans to make the laws on immunisation of children to be consistent nationwide. He has written to state and territory leaders demanding they introduce laws that will protect children, and one of which is not allowing unvaccinated children into all childcare centres and preschools across the nation. “Parents must understand that if their child is not vaccinated they will be refused attendance or enrolment,” he said.

Mr Turnbull also made a commitment to take the policy to the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG). “At our next COAG meeting I propose we agree that all jurisdictions implement legislation that excludes children who are not vaccinated from attending childcare or preschool, unless they have a medical exemption,” he wrote in the letter.

He also highlighted the importance of keeping children safe from preventable diseases. “All of us desperately want to protect our children and our grandchildren and other people’s children too. If you don’t vaccinate your child you are not just putting their own life at risk, but you are putting everyone else’s children at risk,” he said.

The proposal comes after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson told the ABC’s Insider’s program that the government’s no jab, no pay policy was a ‘dictatorship,” and that parents should do their own investigating into vaccinations, but has since retracted her remarks.

This new proposal has earned support from some parents. Among those is Sydney mother-of-four Toni McCaffery whose baby daughter Dana died of whooping cough when she was only four weeks old.

Ms McCaffery, who recently met with Mr Turnbull, believes Dana was infected during her time around other children at a childcare centre. “I found out after she died that there were infections at the centre,” Ms McCaffery told The Telegraph.

However, there were also those who opposed, questioning vaccinations and the lack of choice being afforded to parents.

With this, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that more education is needed.

In NSW, Queensland and Victoria, children must already be fully immunised or be on an approved catch-up program, unless an official objection has been lodged, but the Prime Minister said that a vaccination objection was not considered a valid reason for exemption.

However, children in the ACT, Tasmania, WA, SA or the Northern Territory don’t have to be immunised to enrol at daycare.

Source: Kidspot.com.au