Children who haven't had their shots will be banned from enrolling in childcare centres under the NSW government's bid to lift vaccination rates.
Parents who object to vaccinations on religious or medical grounds will be exempt from the laws but they'll have to provide proof from their GP or an immunisation nurse.
Preschools and childcare centres that fail to obtain this information, or evidence of vaccination prior to enrolment, will also face fines.
"Anyone who has seen a baby with whooping cough or a toddler with measles or has spoken to a parent who has lost a child knows the devastating consequences of failure to vaccinate," NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner told reporters on Tuesday.
The coalition joint partyroom approved the changes on Tuesday after they passed cabinet on Monday night. Ms Skinner will introduce the amendments to the Public Health Act to parliament later in the day.
"Forget the scaremongering, there is nothing to fear from vaccination," she said. Last month a report said tens of thousands of children were behind with their vaccinations and at risk from contagious diseases.
Parents were either rejecting the scientific evidence and electing not to immunise their kids, or simply forgetting.
The report said some of Sydney's most advantaged suburbs were at risk of epidemics, and a potentially deadly outbreak could also affect immunised children.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article said that unvaccinated children would be expelled from childcare centres. A NSW Ministry of Health spokesman has since clarified its proposed policy as follows.
"The proposed amendments to the Public Health Act 2010 will require parents or guardians to provide evidence their child is fully vaccinated for age, or is on a recognised catch-up schedule, or has an exemption approved by a GP.
"From January 1 2014 a child cannot be enrolled until this documentation is produced.
"Child care facilities face up to a $4,000 fine if they enrol a child without this documentation. Children enrolled prior to January 1 2014 are not affected by this amendment.
"If those children do not have a vaccination record lodged with the child care facility they will be considered to be unvaccinated, and if an outbreak occurs may be excluded from child care during the outbreak."
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