Why vaccination is important for children

​​​​​​​​​Vaccines are a free and safe way to protect your child from serious diseases, such as whooping cough, measles and more. Vaccinating on time will also:

  • protect your family and community
  • make it easier to enrol your child in childcare or preschool
  • support access to family assistance payments.

Delaying a vaccination could put your child at risk of catching a disease and becoming very sick. Some vaccine-preventable diseases cannot be cured and lead to lifelong infection and health problems.

Vaccinations have greatly reduced deaths in Australia from diseases covered under the NSW Childhood Immunisation Schedule, such as diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (see Figure 1):

Line graph showing average annual deaths from diptheria, pertussis and tetanus. Deaths decreased sharply in the first decade of introduction of vaccines and down to almost zero
Figure 1: Decrease in deaths from disease after introduction of vaccination programs.
Source: National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases

Vaccines work best when most people are immunised. This creates herd immunity and protects those who can’t yet be vaccinated. Up to 95 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to obtain herd immunity against a disease. 

Without high vaccination rates, preventable diseases can spread more easily. This puts vulnerable people, especially young children and unborn babies, at greater risk.

The benefits continue to outweigh the risks for vaccine-preventable diseases

Visit The Australian Immunisation Handbook to compare the effects of diseases and the possible side effects of vaccines.

You can also find out more about infectious diseases and the childhood vaccines that prevent them at Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation.

Current as at: Friday 6 March 2026
Contact page owner: Immunisation