The vaccination debate has raised its head again in recent weeks with the head of the Australian Medical Association, Steve Hambleton, claiming that unvaccinated kids should be kept away from school.

Dr Hambleton's comments came in response to a report by the National Health Performance Authority titled Healthy Communities: Immunisation rates for children in 2011-12 which reveals that some local areas in Australia may be at risk of a disease outbreak due to low vaccination rates.

Dr Hambleton says there are pockets across the country where vaccination levels are falling below the levels necessary to keep children safe.

"No vaccine's 100 per cent effective so we need to vaccinate more people than we need to to get above that 90 per cent rate. So 93 per cent of kids need to be vaccinated to stop the spread… and we're nowhere near 93 per cent in probably 60 areas around the country, which is really disturbing," he said.

Recent media reports of whooping cough, chicken pox outbreaks and a couple of cases of measles in areas with low vaccination rates seem to support these claims.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Government is working to increase immunisation rates through linking some family support payments to immunisation.

"To be eligible for Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement, which is $726, parents need to have their children fully immunised, meaning a child has been vaccinated against hepatitis B (Hep B), haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), poliomyelitis (polio), diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella" she said.

However this incentive is not effective for parents who do not qualify for the benefit due to means testing. In addition, eligible parents can still receive the payment if they claim an exemption by identifying themselves as a vaccine refuser or by asking their doctor to provide a form to make them eligible for a medical exemption.

Under current laws NSW is the only state/territory in Australia where child care providers are asked to provide immunisation records, however, these records cannot be used to exclude a child who is unvaccinated from entering a child care service. Unvaccinated kids can only be asked to stay away during outbreaks of communicable diseases.