Letter to Senator Alex Antic re Overturning No Jab No Pay
I will be sending a similar letter to my State Senators and my Member of Parliament tomorrow. If you haven't yet sent yours, now is a great time to do so.
I have been working on this letter for days! I had to find some information about the amendments we had originally asked for back in 1998 and digging through the archives was NOT easy! But here it is - finally!
Feel free to use some of this information for your own letter or the letter I will link below from the AVN. But do not copy this verbatim. This will negate both my correspondence and yours.
Senator Alex Antic
Parliament House
Suite 24
Canberra ACT 2600
Also via email: Senator.Antic@aph.gov.au
Dear Senator Antic,
I am writing in relation to the legislation you are introducing to overturn No Jab, No Pay. I want to offer both historical context and practical insight that may assist you as this bill progresses.
In the late 1990s, I worked alongside Lynne Grimsey to lobby Federal Parliament for amendments to the Childcare Payments Act 1997. With support from Senator Bob Brown and the Greens, the Australian Democrats, several Independents, and members of the Labor Opposition, we proposed amendments designed to protect the rights of Australian parents who chose not to vaccinate or who vaccinated selectively.
At that time, the government was considering a proposal very similar to today’s No Jab, No Pay. Parents would have been required to “prove” that they were sufficiently knowledgeable about vaccination in order to decline it. Representing the Australian Vaccination Network and thousands of families, Lynne and I sought three amendments:That a recognised immunisation provider certify in writing that they had discussed with the parent the benefits and risks of vaccination.That the parent declare in writing that they held a conscientious objection to vaccinating their child.That a signed statement from a parent or guardian—expressing a personal, philosophical, religious, or medical belief—be accepted as sufficient grounds for exemption.
We originally argued that no written statement should be required at all, as parents were already well-informed about the benefits and risks. We also noted that members of the Church of Christ, Scientist could opt out without formally registering as conscientious objectors, and believed the same courtesy should apply to members of the AVN and other parents.
The first two amendments passed and were incorporated into the Act. However, the third did not. As Senator Brown and I warned at the time, what was intended to be a straightforward conversation with a doctor became, in practice, an adversarial and often distressing process. Many parents were forced to visit a dozen or more doctors before finding one willing to sign the conscientious objection form. This increased anxiety for families and imposed unnecessary cost on both the public and the health system.
I believe it is important for you to be aware of this history as you work to restore conscientious objection provisions. Should such provisions be reintroduced, I strongly encourage ensuring a clear obligation for medical practitioners to sign the form once the required discussion has taken place, so the process remains humane, consistent, and free of discrimination.
I would also like to draw your attention to the severe hardship experienced by families when conscientious objection options were removed in 2016. At that time, we invited parents to describe how losing access to government entitlements affected them. Their accounts were heartbreaking:
• families pushed into poverty;
• parents sleeping in cars with their children after losing housing;
• adults skipping meals so their children could eat;
• and in some cases, the termination of much-wanted pregnancies because parents believed they could not afford to raise another child.
These personal accounts remain publicly available, and I include the links below for your reference:
https://avn.org.au/blog/2016/impact-statements-adverse-effects-government-bigotry/
https://avn.org.au/blog/2016/stories-families-adversely-affected-no-jab-no-payplay/
https://avn.org.au/blog/2016/suffering-continues-government-care/
https://avn.org.au/blog/2016/suffering-continues-stories/
https://avn.org.au/information/family-hardship-laws/families-suffering-share-story/
I hope this background is helpful as you prepare to navigate the hurdles ahead. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you further and to assist in any way that may support your efforts to restore fairness and protect parental rights in Australia.
Kind regards,
Meryl Dorey
Of course, as soon as I sent this I remembered something very important that should have been included 🙄
Tasha David, Greg Beattie and myself testified at a Senate hearing on No Jab No Pay back in 2015. There were dozens of others who testified and almost all of us - including the RACGP - were against the legislation. Thousands of submissions were sent in and only a handful of them were in support. I think at the time, it was a record number of submissions for any Inquiry in Australia.
Despite this, the government totally ignored our concerns and went ahead with passing this legislation. The Murdoch Media and the Green under Dick De Natali were instrumental in pushing it through. Such a tragedy for Australian families!
Meryl Dorey
Meryl Dorey
