Children of better-off parents missing out on jabs Meaghan Powell with daughter Annie, moments after Annie was immunised. WEALTHIER and more educated parents "who should know better" are risking the health of their children and others by refusing to vaccinate them. A new report shows Victoria boasts the nation's best immunisation record. But there are still pockets, some in wealthy inner-city areas, where children are exposed. The greater south coast, which includes Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Southern Grampians and Camperdown, has Australia's highest immunisation rate: 96 per cent of two-year-olds are immunised. But though it has 90 per cent immunisation, inner northwest Melbourne - which takes in Fitzroy and Carlton - has 1217 unvaccinated children, the highest number in Victoria. Expert Julie Leask said "baby Einstein" parents who took an intensive interest in their baby's education and health, and who ate organic food and used alternative medicines, were partly to blame. They were often suspicious of medicine, making them more likely to object to vaccination, the University of Sydney academic said. Research has found the Dandenong region has large numbers of parents opposed to vaccination. "These figures are a warning that you can't rely on 'herd immunity' in your region and it is very important to make sure your child's immunisation is up to date," Ms Leask said. Australian Medical Association president Dr Steve Hambleton said parents in many low-vaccination areas would be wealthier and better educated and "should know better." He said the removal next month of an $18.50 government incentive payment for doctors who fully immunised children in their practice would exacerbate the problem. The World Health Organisation says measles immunisation rates must be above 93 per cent to prevent the disease's spread. Disturbingly, the data shows more than a third of 61 Medicare local areas have immunisation rates for one-year-olds under 93 per cent. A whooping cough epidemic last year affected over 24,000 people. More than 199 contracted measles. The National Health Performance Authority report found immunisation rates were reassuringly high in many parts of Australia but there were "communities where levels are low enough to increase the risk that some contagious diseases may spread." Last year, 12 eminent scientists launched a booklet explaining that many more children would die from contagious diseases than would be harmed by immunisation side-effects. One baby in 12 is not immunised and more than 30,000 parents have registered a conscientious objection, up from 4271 in 1999.