But in some vaccine-resistant strongholds, as many as one in 10 children were unvaccinated or had missed at least one vaccine on the National Immunisation Program (NIP). Inner Melbourne, including suburbs from Flemington to Carlton and Southbank, had a vaccination rate of below 90 per cent for five-year-olds, at 89.96 per cent. This aligns with previous reports that have found some areas around the inner city have dangerously low rates of vaccination, at as low as 70 to 75 per cent. But the overall picture was reassuring, with a number of areas reporting rates above 97 per cent, including Darebin South, Whitehorse East, Wodonga, Whittlesea and Ballarat.

Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the results showed efforts to drive up vaccinations, such as the 'No Jab, No Play' policy, were working in the face of vaccine sceptics. “Vaccination saves lives – the science is crystal clear. We won't be deterred by those who seek to peddle mistruth and put young Victorians at risk,” she said. Loading Elsewhere, NSW’s vaccination rate for five-year-olds fell just below the national rate, with 94.56 per cent. Queensland (94.46), South Australia (94.44), the Northern Territory, (93.30) fared worse than NSW. Western Australia had the lowest five-year-old coverage rate of 93.15 per cent.

The government's 95 per cent target was driven by the goal of reaching herd immunity and guarding against measles outbreaks – the most infectious of the vaccine-preventable diseases. This high level of coverage would also help protect vulnerable people who are unable to be vaccinated (very young children, people with severely weakened immune systems, or people prone to anaphylactic reactions to vaccines) from the gamut of life-threatening vaccine-preventable diseases, immunisation experts say. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the data showed the vast majority of parents were hearing the message about the benefits of vaccinations. Loading “There’s still work to do and we must remain vigilant as there are some areas in of the country where child vaccination rates are lower than what we would like them to be," he said.

Immunisation coverage was lower for two-year-olds (90.63 per cent) – most likely due to recent changes to the scheduled vaccines, according to the national data. For one-year-olds the rate was 94.02 per cent. Dr Frank Beard, staff specialist in Coverage, Evaluation and Surveillance at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, said Australia's vaccination rates are relatively high by international comparisons. But 95 per cent was not “some magic number”, Dr Beard said. Even with very high coverage rates there would still be cases of whooping cough, for which the vaccine is less effective; and relatives visiting from measles-prevalent countries or unvaccinated travellers returning to Australia still risked exposing young children and other vulnerable people to the disease, he said. Herd immunity was also contingent on high coverage rates in adults. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video