For me it was the knowledge that whilst cases of serious communicable diseases are rare in Australia now, they are still prevalent in other countries. People travel more than they used to, therefore the chances of these diseases making a comeback if vaccination rates fall is real. Thousands of children still die from complications from things like measles in developing countries because they do not have access to the vaccines we take for granted here.

I have also seen firsthand the result of a pregnant woman contracting rubella in the first trimester - my cousin is now profoundly deaf and suffers a degree of mental retardation as well. I could never imagine taking the risk of that happening to one of my children when there is a safe, reliable vaccine available.