Australia Will Halt Payments for Anti-Vaccine Families

The Australian government is cracking down on families who won’t vaccinate their children by cutting off certain payments. Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced yesterday that welfare payments and child care rebates for families will be halted for any that refuse to get their children vaccinated.

According to reports, Abbott talked about making sure kids wouldn’t be “at risk of contracting a serious or potentially life-threatening illness because of the conscientious objections of others.”

There are reportedly roughly 39,000 young children who aren’t vaccinated in Australia. Some exceptions are in place, like opting out for medical reasons, or tightening a family’s eligibility if they have religious objections.

The new policy will go into effect at the start of 2016.

Of course, the U.S. has been debating the vaccine issue for months over concerns about parents refusing to get their kids certain vaccines.

[h/t NPR]
[image via Shutterstock]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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