Other hot spots for low vaccination coverage were Kyneton in Victoria with a rate of 80 per cent for one-year-olds. However, Brunswick Heads in NSW had the lowest coverage in Australia, with a rate of 73 per cent.

The film Vaxxed will no longer screen at the Castlemaine film festival. Credit:Thinkstock

A spokeswoman for the Public Health Association of Australia, Angela Newbound, said it was concerning that very few areas across the country had rates at or above the 95 per cent target, putting people at risk of devastating infectious diseases such as whooping cough.

Ms Newbound, a nurse who specialises in vaccination, said it was common to see low vaccination rates in wealthy and poor suburbs where parents tend to not vaccinate their children for different reasons. In rich suburbs, she said some well educated people did not trust doctors and vaccines, despite reliable evidence outlining the benefits and very small risks. In some cases, she said these people were guided by naturopaths and chiropractors and rejected other conventional medical treatments such as antibiotics.

In contrast, many parents in poorer areas were struggling to get their children vaccinated on time because of difficulty accessing services or lack of transport.