Only 83.2 per cent of two-year-olds between Kioloa and Eden are vaccinated, compared to the national average of 93.7 per cent and 48.4 per cent on the NSW North Coast.

“For two-year-olds, we really need [the vaccination rate] to be up around 95 per cent to protect all our children,” Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis said. 

To combat low the immunisation rates, a new Get the Facts about Immunisation campaign has been launched to educate parents and carers about immunisation and encourage them to vaccinate their children.

“A parent will never know when their child may come into contact with someone who has got one of these infections, so the best way to protect children from these diseases, is to make sure they’re fully immunised,” 2006 Australian of the Year, immunologist Professor Ian Frazer said.

“Parents can be worried about possible side-effects, usually they’re not true, but getting the facts is sometimes difficult,” Mrs Sudmalis said.

“If you’re not immunised it can be a health risk to the community, especially for people who can’t be vaccinated, like newborns and people with medical reasons.

“Our local communities need to be fit, healthy and vaccinated, everybody needs to be on board and aware of the facts.” 

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the $5.5 million campaign would reach parents through child care services and online communication channels including social media. 

“Research has shown that when people are fully informed about the benefits of vaccination, they are more likely to vaccinate,” Mr Hunt said.

The campaign will highlight important facts including: 

“Stories of parents losing their young children to these horrible diseases are simply heartbreaking,” Mr Hunt said.

Riley Hughes and Dana McCaffery were both only one month old when they died from a vaccine-preventable disease.

They were both too young to be vaccinated, so like all other newborns, relied on the rest of the community being vaccinated to offer protection.

“Ensuring parents are fully informed about immunisation is vital in ensuring we increase the rates of immunisation across Australia in the zero to five age group,” Professor Frazer said.

“Australia has a strong immunisation record which has seen a reduction in disease in this country, however we still see cases of disease outbreaks, particularly in areas of low immunisation coverage, so it’s important immunisation rates are as high as possible.”

Vaccines work to protect children against being infected by diseases, they can be thought of as a training course for the immune system. They prepare the body to fight disease, without exposing it to the disease symptoms.

For years, rumours have circulated linking vaccines to autism, however, medical information from close to 1.5 million children around the world has confirmed vaccinations do not cause autism.

The studies compared the health of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated children over many years. 

The initial concern around autism and immunisation came from a paper published in 1998 claiming a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism. 

The paper was withdrawn from the journal in 2010 after the General Medical Council found that results reported in the paper had "proven to be false". 

The journal printed an apology after withdrawing the paper.

For more information on the campaign visit www.immunisationfacts.gov.au.