Despite more and more attention being devoted to the subject, Australians are not rejecting vaccinations for their children in significant numbers.  In fact, new research shows that the rate of parents refusing vaccinations has remained very low since 2001.

The new study published in the Medical Journal of Australia reports that the number of parents registering an objection to vaccinations was 1.1 percent in 2002, and rose ever so slightly to 2 percent between in 2013.  This was gleaned from the Australian Childhood Immunization Register.  University of Sydney academic Frank Beard is the author of the study - he says the numbers say that while objections to vaccines is still a problem, Australia isn't going "anti-vaxxer".

"If we're aiming to get immunization rates up, then we should be focusing on some of the other groups which are probably easier to address than the entrenched objectors," Dr. Beard said.

Objection rates are stronger in clusters in northern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland, and doctors warn that these areas are at a greater risk of disease outbreaks.  Vaccination objection was greater than the national average in:  NSW's Tweed Valley and Richmond Valley; and QLD's Nambour, Noosa, Buderim, and the hinterland areas of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.