Families not vaccinating to have fortnighly payments cut

New legislation introduced to parliament on Thursday will enforce a fortnightly cut to Centrelink payments made to parents who still choose not to have their children fully vaccinated.

The push follows success of the Government’s ‘no jab no pay’ policy introduced last year that encouraged 210,000 families into having their kids inoculated.

Instead of losing out on the annual lump Family Tax Benefit A payment, which is about $700, families will now be cut $28 every fortnight for each child not vaccinated.

The Government’s new plan is aimed to provide an immediate and ongoing incentive to families to have their children receive full vaccinations on time, Nine News reports.

Money lost by families over the course of the year equates to roughly the same amount under new legislation, and those earning salaries of more than $80,000 won’t be eligible for the cuts.

At least 95% of the population would need to be immunised to protect those who can’t be vaccinated like newborn babies and people with medical exemptions. 

The Government’s new plan is aimed to provide an immediate and ongoing incentive to families

Data collected in June shows the nationwide percentage of fully vaccinated children up to age five was 93.6%.

There were also 93.79 of one-year-olds immunised and 90.86 of two-year-olds.

From the start of July next year fortnightly cuts will replace the current system.  

Social Services Minister Christian Porter advocated for the new measures for their powerful ability to boost ‘herd immunity’, Sky News reports. 

‘If you make the consequence to vaccinate more immediate and regular, it will actually do a better than good result,’ he said.