New findings link access and acceptance barriers with partial childhood vaccination

Newly released findings from a nationally representative National Vaccination Insights project study could help explain the gradual and concerning decline in childhood vaccinations among children in Australia.

The team behind the project – comprising social science researchers from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, NCIRS and the University of Sydney Social and Behavioural Insights in Immunisation (SABII) research group – conducted a survey of 2,000 parents in Australia to understand the barriers to uptake of National Immunisation Program vaccines among children under 5 years of age. 

The researchers analysed how common vaccination barriers were across three study cohorts – parents of partially vaccinated children, parents of unvaccinated children and parents of children who had received all vaccines recommended for their age – and explored associations between the prevalence of parent-reported barriers, childhood vaccination status, and other characteristics such as financial stress and where parents live.

The following barriers were found to be strongly associated with partial childhood vaccination.

Access barriers – parents’ practical difficulties

• Not prioritising their child’s vaccination appointments over other things 
• Not finding it easy to get an appointment when their child’s vaccination is due 
• Not being able to afford costs associated with vaccinating their child

Acceptance barriers – parents’ thoughts, feelings and social influences

• Not believing vaccines are safe for their child
• Not trusting the information they receive about vaccines from their child’s doctor or nurse
• Not believing vaccinating their child helps protect others in the community
• Not believing vaccines are effective for preventing diseases
• Not feeling guilty if their unvaccinated child got a vaccine preventable disease

Feeling distressed when thinking about vaccinating their child was the most common vaccination barrier parents reported – however, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of this acceptance barrier across the three study cohorts.

A full report that includes comprehensive findings from the survey – as well as proposed policy- and practice-related actions for consideration – will be released in early 2025.
 

Access the key findings