This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The federal health minister, Sussan Ley, has described as “repulsive” and “off the planet” suggestions by an anti-vaccination group that the government’s immunisation policy was akin to rape.

A Facebook page run by the Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network responded to the recent government announcement that religious exemptions for vaccinations would end, and that child welfare payments would cease to parents who did not vaccinate, by posting an image explicitly comparing vaccination to rape.

It showed a man grabbing a woman from behind and covering her mouth with his hand, along with the caption: “Forced penetration. Really - no big deal, if it’s just a vaccination needle, and he’s a doctor.”

Even supporters of the network’s anti-vaccination stance responded angrily to the post, with one person writing it could be triggering for sexual assault victims, and others labelling it disgusting.

Ley said vaccination in no way equated to rape.

“This type of ill-informed and, frankly, disgusting campaign only serves to inform parents about the dangers of listening to these groups peddling anti-vaccine myths,” Ley said.

“Vaccination is essential to protecting the health of our children and this only spurs me on as health minister to roll out out our proposed myth-busting campaign to ensure parents can make an informed choice without having to witness this vile rubbish.”

The network was forced to change its name last year after the NSW Department of Fair Trading NSW found its original name – the Australian Vaccination Network – could mislead people into thinking it was a pro-vaccination group.

The Facebook page continues under the old name but is operated by people associated with the Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network, who still have administration rights and the ability to post to the page. Administrators had removed the post by Thursday afternoon.

An administrator of the page and anti-vaccination proponent, Meryl Dorey, wrote she was “floored that this [the image] has become a media issue”.

The group posted a similar comment in 2011, writing that a Victorian court which ordered a five-year-old girl be immunised had effectively ordered “rape”.

Peter Tierney, a member of the vaccine advocacy group Stop the AVN, denied that criticising the comments only served to promote the group.

“There are still many sections of the media, unfortunately , who have gone to the AVN as a reputable source of information or just for comment,” Tierney said. “It’s astonishing television channels and other media outlets still go to anti-vaccination people for comment.

“So I think it is still really important not just to expose them, but to show the community this is what these people are really like.”

Studies have frequently dispelled concerns about childhood vaccinations being harmful. On Wednesday, a major study published in a leading US medical journal concluded there was no link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination and autism in children.

The shadow health minister, Catherine King, echoed Ley’s comments on Thursday, saying the behaviour of the network was appalling.

“It is a slur on doctors, it is a slur on the many, many victims of sexual assault in this country and the Anti-Vaccination Network, frankly, has absolutely no credibility and they have lost the plot if they think this sort of messaging is appropriate,” she said.

“We will support the changes that the government is making to the Child Care Benefit and the Family Tax Benefit. But it also has to be about education.”



The Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network has been contacted for comment.