The ‘no jab, no play’ policy means children must be fully immunised for their age before they can be enrolled in day care or kindergarten.

The policy was brought in to boost vaccination levels, and improve “herd immunity”, which helps protect those who can’t be immunised, such as newborns, the aged, or people with lowered immune systems, such as those undergoing chemotherapy. It was also seen as a response to the “anti-vax” movement, which goes against scientific consensus and has been attributed to increases in outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough.

Moyne Shire’s early years services co-ordinator, Sharon Wilson, said the shire was aware of “isolated cases” of parents going against the weight of scientific evidence and refusing to vaccinate their children.

“We are aware of two cases where non-immunised children have been unable to access early education and care,” Ms Wilson said.

“(But we’ve also) had ‘non-immunisers’ choosing to immunise due to positive education and (the) ‘no jab, no play’ legislation.” 

According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data, Port Fairy’s vaccination rate for five-year-olds is 90.3 per cent, while Koroit is at 100 per cent. The national average is 92.9 per cent.

The institute notes such percentages should be treated with caution due to the low sample size, adding that Port Fairy’s 90.3 per cent equated to five or less five-year-olds unvaccinated.

Australian Childhood Immunisation Register data showed 95.4 per cent of five-year-olds in Moyne are fully immunised, which equates to 62 children out of 65.

Ms Wilson said the shire provided immunisations at maternal/child health visits, enforced the ‘no jab, no play’ legislation, provided advice and education through immunisation nurses, and followed up overdue children personally.

“Vaccination is the single most important thing we can do to prevent diseases – sometimes life-threatening – in our community,” she said.

“If people aren’t vaccinating, the potential is to see an increase in diseases effecting infant mortality, such as whooping cough and measles. There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding immunisation and people need to be sure they’re sourcing information from reliable sources.

“Vaccines are one of the most heavily scrutinised medications in the world and we know they’re safe.”