Dear AVN,

Our family will lose 2 lots of $ 720 – $ 1440 Family Supplement

Our two girls are 16 and 18 and I was sent a letter from Centrelink, asking them to catch up on 18 years of shots to be up to date with the Immunisation Schedule.

Quote from Centrelink:

“ What you need to do. “

“If your children have missed vaccinations on the National Immunisation Program early childhood vaccination schedule, you will need to talk to your vaccination provider (including general Practitioners) and commence a suitable catch-up schedule for their age.

Children aged under 10 can be vaccinated for free by vaccination providers under the Australian Government’s Immunise Australia Program.

For a limited time, if Bethany and Melanie have missed vaccinations on the National Immunisation Program early childhood vaccination schedule, you can vaccinate them for free after consulting with your vaccination provider.

You need to take this letter with you and show it to your vaccination provider to be eligible.

To assist your vaccination provider in determining a suitable catch-up schedule  for your child, please take a copy of your child’s immunisation history ( I do not have a history  – as none of my 12 children were ever vaccinated ) statement with you as well.

You may incur a cost for the consultation with your vaccination provider.”

So Centrelink have been instructed to make this “No Jab, no Pay “ law retrospective by 18 years !  Is that legal? I have never heard of a new law being backdated 18 years – surely it should be from now on – the date they passed the legislation?

So if  I was to be so stupid to get my girls to “catch up” they may be jabbed with 28 vaccines in a very short space of time. (ed note – the real total at the age of 18 would be closer to 70 vaccines – not 28) This would be potentially very dangerous, after reading about a young boy who died, after having 9 shots in one day!

Grateful for all the good work you do. Supporting you financially as well.

We are very much affected by this policy. I would be starting work this year, but now it’s not worth me putting three kids into various types of care. I would end up with very little left so I’m staying home.

I won’t be getting coerced into injecting.

My daughter had been avoiding vaccination for her two daughters until now.

She is now a solo mother with little contribution from their father. With one at school and one at daycare

She cannot afford the loss of support. She either has to give up her job or give in. Reluctantly, she has joined the catch-up program against her will. Is going as slowly as possible in the hope the law may be changed.

I believe this may be a common story.

I am a single mother who left a domestic violence relationship. I allow my daughter’s father to pick her up from school 3 days per week and care for her on the weekends when I work because I cannot afford the full cost of childcare every day that I work. My daughter would prefer to go to after school care and have her babysitter care for her because she is sometimes worried when her dad gets very angry and shouts.

I cannot risk immunisation for her because her older siblings had really bad reactions to immunisation and she has anaphylaxis. Both her dad and I have chronic fatigue syndrome and I was advised against immunisation by an eminent medical specialist.

My daughter has special needs in terms of sensory processing disorder and has to be very careful about what she eats in terms of her allergies.  I work part-time so that I can get enough income to pay for housing, food and bills whilst being there as much as I can for her before and after school.  We have no functional grandparents to help out.

Not getting childcare benefit or family supplement wiĺl mean my daughter needs to be with her father, even if that is not the safest option, because I have no other realistic choice. I need to work to be able to stay in our flat and afford school costs and pay food and bills.

Hello AVN,

Thank you for taking an interest in supporting our liberties as conscientious parents. We value your convictions and really appreciate your opposition to the No Jab, No Pay legislation. We believe this is effectively blackmail to coax cash-strapped families like ourselves into a position against our will. They obviously do not understand the depth of our own conviction. We will not compromise the health of our family, nor change our medical choices based on tyranny and efforts to feed the pharmaceutical industry.

As average renting Australians on one wage, we would rather live in poverty first. This of course means that society will pay either way. In this day, we now understand why our constitution had a medical freedom clause, to try to prevent such divisive control. We are sixth generation Australians with more than 150 years of contributions to this beautiful country. Yet we will happily leave Australia and home before bowing to oppressive governance. In all my years, this act is the most hostile I have seen towards a fringe group in society.

Sadly, powerful forces are at play against young families like ourselves trying to pursue happiness and health. Our children have food intolerance, eczema and other immune sensitives. Several decades ago, those with allergies and environmental sensitives used to be protected and even recommended to forgo vaccines by the medical establishment. It is no longer seen as a reason to avoid immunisations, despite no further evidence suggesting they are safe, especially for this group of vulnerable kids. We cannot get medical exemption, so we have chosen to avoid vaccines to reduce toxic exposure and risk. These sensitives in society are ever on the increase with each generation with little explanation. I believe this expensive taxpayer legislation will have little impact on immunisation rates, as parents like ourselves will continue to make their stand. Penalising us financially is just another insult and serves us a message that society doesn’t care for our plight.

Please present our testimony in this fight.

Thank you so much for your good work.

I’m a mother of 6 children, my husband is a farmer with fairly low income.  I run two small businesses from home.  And every dollar counts.  Sometimes it’s very difficult to balance the family budget, and sometimes basics like food and access to education is impacted upon.

Professionally, I’m a paediatric occupational therapist and I have been working with children with various types of disabilities and difficulties for 20 years.

I first started to question vaccination because as an OT, the most severely disabled children I have ever worked with, both in Australia and abroad, had their disabilities openly attributed to vaccine damage.  I also have a very strong grounding in natural health, and in fostering health through daily healthy choices.

Naturally, when I had my own children, I looked into ways to keep them healthy, and prevent the disabilities I see in clients.  And this led us to make an informed choice to never vaccinate our children and to use other well-established and researched methods to prevent serious illness and promote health and well-being.  Incidentally, we have 6 healthy, calm, happy, thriving children who have never needed antibiotics or even Panadol/Neurofen, and who very rarely require a visit to a medical practitioner.  What we are doing from a health perspective is working very well.

I find it a gross injustice that my family and children are financially disadvantaged through our own health care choices.  Our choices don’t create any burden to the taxation/Medicare system of Australia – and we as a family choose to take full responsibility for the healthcare of our family.  For my children to have their parents have to choose to vaccinate them or suffer financial hardship reminds me a lot of the disempowerment created by governments in historical times that many cultures are now ashamed of e.g. Hitler’s choice to force certain conditions on the population he was governing.

I don’t feel confident in vaccinations to be able to preserve my children’s health and to prevent serious illness.  There is ample scientific evidence that I have available to me as a health practitioner to support my choice as a parent not to vaccinate my children.  The Australian Government, in my opinion, is making a serious mistake in linking the choice to vaccinate with the family budget, and potentially depriving children of other elements in life that combine to give them a good quality of life that is valued and desired in Australia.  This is not the type of regulation I would expect from a modern democracy.  It is the type of decision I would expect from a government who are happier to listen to big pharmaceutical industry interests rather than the interests of everyday families who value children.

Our family will not be swayed to vaccinate our children.  This heavy-handed legislation will serve only to encourage us to educate our own children about the intricate details of why we have chosen not to vaccinate them.  This legislation will only serve to make us more motivated to ensure that everyday Australian’s have the opportunity to make a truly informed choice.  And in my health care work, when I am in contact with families, I will choose to continue to speak honestly and openly with them.  No matter how much pressure the government attempts to put on our family budget, we will not partake in the possibility of poisoning or harming our children.

I’m pleased that these matters and how it impacts on real Australians are being considered.  I’m pleased to be able to share my story so that you can see I am well educated, I have personal interaction with vaccine damaged children who suffer lifelong consequences, and I’m very motivated that the right to choose the types/modalities of health care for our children remain with the children’s parents/caregivers.

I have two children and they are both on the spectrum. I do not have relatives here and not many friends. I had to go back to an unhappy and sometimes abusive relationship because of this no jab, no pay policy. I try to work part time because I can leave my daughter with before/after school care but from next month, I can’t leave her there anymore because I simply can’t afford the full fee. I can’t make myself get my daughter fully immunised because I can’t afford to have another severely autistic child like my son. I hope the government will come to their senses and let parents decide on things like this.

Please do not publish my name. Thanks.