Worry grows over safety of childhood jabs More than half of Australia's parents are worried about the safety of childhood vaccines, a survey has revealed, prompting concerns that a shift in support for vaccination could lead to reduced coverage rates and outbreaks of disease. More than 1300 Australians, including 400 parents, gave their views in Australia's first national survey of attitudes to vaccination, commissioned to coincide with the release of a new television documentary on vaccines. The survey, conducted by Australia Online Research, found that 53 per cent of parents had general concerns about vaccinating their children. Of those concerned parents, 45 per cent chose to vaccinate anyway, while 8 per cent withheld or delayed vaccines. Source: National Survey of Australian Public Attitudes to Vaccination. Survey adviser Associate Professor Julie Leask, of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance at the University of Sydney, said overseas research had shown that people with higher levels of education were more likely to oppose vaccination. She said educated people were more inclined to question medical intervention in general, and may not immunise without a lot of questioning. She suspected there was growing hesitancy about vaccination in Australia, driven by greater consumerism in health and the rise of alternative therapies. Federal government data shows 92 per cent of two-year-olds are fully immunised, but data released by the National Health Performance Authority last month showed some areas with lower coverage. Across Australia, the lowest vaccination rates for two-year-olds was 89 per cent on NSW's north coast and eastern Sydney, and on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson on Sunday said he would introduce amendments to the Public Health Act that would give early childhood centres the right to refuse children who hadn't had their shots. Immunologist Gus Nossal said there was a risk that diseases would re-emerge in the community if immunisation rates dropped too low. "If the attitude of complacency becomes too widespread we risk falling back into an epidemic situation again," Sir Gus said. I'm concerned but not panicking, because I believe in the good sense of the Australian people. The survey showed that support for vaccination varied among population groups, and the strongest supporters were "survivors" - the oldest, least affluent group. Most concerned about vaccine safety were the "suburban splendour" group, characterised as middle-class, middle-aged parents. "Achievers" (wealthier, younger parents) were most likely to be undecided about vaccine safety. Emmy award-winning Melbourne filmmaker Sonya Pemberton, who spent more than two years working on a new documentary about vaccines to air on SBS on Sunday night, said her aim was to start a new conversation about vaccination that did not automatically brand people as "vaccine refusers" if they had concerns. Join the discussion as readers debate this issue. Click here to post a comment Jabbed: Love, Fear and Vaccines will screen on Sunday, May 26, at 8.30pm on SBS. Poll: Should all children be vaccinated? Total votes: 6984.