Parents Who Don't Vaccinate Will Be Denied Childcare Benefits, Says Australia

Australian parents will soon have to decide if their antivaccination beliefs are strong enough to forego government subsidies. In a bold move, the Australian government has passed a measure that requires all children to be vaccinated in order to receive childcare benefits, rebates, and the Family Tax Benefit — subsidies that can add up to approximately $10,700 in US dollars. The new law — which was easily approved — goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2016, and applies to all families, except those who can claim a medical reason for opting out of the immunizations.

Senator David Leyonhjelm, a vocal supporter of the "no-jab-no-pay" law, cut right to the chase in explaining his position:

"Parents do not have a right to welfare payments. It's bad enough that people continue to bring wave upon wave [of] these little blighters into the world. The least they can do is immunize their bundles of dribble and sputum, so they don't make the rest of us sick."

Former prime minister Tony Abbott supported the bill from the beginning, arguing, "The choice made by families not to immunize their children is not supported by public policy or medical research, nor should such action be supported by taxpayers in the form of childcare payments."

Australia's move may be the strongest yet in the vaccination debate. The issue heated up early this year after a measles outbreak at Disneyland quickly spread. More recently, an Australian mother's video of her baby suffering from whooping cough reignited the debate after she argued that her baby, who was too young to be vaccinated, caught the potentially deadly virus from families who chose to opt out of immunizations.