Ready for some good news?

The organisation formerly known as the Australian Vaccination Network – which peddles dangerous and misleading anti-vaccination rhetoric  to parents and expectant parents – has been officially banned from fundraising for charitable purposes.

The Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network Incorporated group was forced to surrender its ‘Authority to Fundraise’ after a state government investigation into its anti-vaccination activities.

The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing first wrote a letter to the AVSNI, asking that they make a case for why their authority to fundraise should not be revoked – and when this requirement was not met, the association surrendered its authority.

And it’s about time.

Under the Charitable Fundraising Act, an organisation can only fundraise for charitable purposes if their cause is in the public interest.

While investigating the AVSNI, the OLGR sourced expert medical advice regarding information on the anti-vaccination group’s website regarding the risks and benefits of vaccination. The experts found that the group’s anti-vaccination advocacy held the potential for great misinformation and could influence the important health decisions made by parents, which could in turn lead to adverse public health consequences.

A number of vaccinations are available on the NIP.

The group has long been criticised by scientists and doctors for claiming that vaccines cause autism and that vaccination is a “personal choice”. This is despite the fact that babies who are too young to be vaccinated rely on herd immunity, as do children and adults with compromised immune systems.

But hold your applause, there’s more.

This news comes after another significant step in March, which saw the ‘Australian Vaccination Network’ change their name to a title that more accurately reflected their activities, after advice from Fair Trading and a decision from the Administrative Decisions Tribunal. The two government bodies found that the organisation had to more accurately reflect its scepticism about vaccinations – instead of hooking parents and members of the public with a legitimate sounding name and then providing them with misinformation.

The AVSNI has been peddling misinformation to members of the public for years now. They have been using their bogus science to scare new parents, who just want to do the best for their kids, into thinking that the risks of vaccination are greater than the positives.

But this is the truth: three million children’s lives are saved every year by vaccination and two million die every year from vaccine-preventable illnesses.

Mamamia applauds the actions of the NSW state government in finally taking the AVSNI to task.

This is a gallery of common myths about vaccines being harmful and why they’re wrong. It includes some good arguments to use when you’re faced with anti-vaccination rhetoric.

Myth 1

Myth 1 busted

Myth 2

Myth 2 busted

Myth 3

Myth 3 busted

Myth 4

Myth 4 busted

Myth 5

Myth 5 busted

A short quote from Dr Rachel Dunlop

A short quote from Dr Rachel Dunlop

Autism and the link to vaccines fact sheet

A short quote from Dr Rachel Dunlop

Vaccinating your child is like putting up a big shield. They won't be protected without it.

Please share this post with friends and family who believe in science and support vaccinations to keep our community safe.