Victoria's health minister may report anti-vaccination trolls, who abused her online and threatened sexual violence, to the police.
Jill Hennessy has spoken out after being abused for 1 and a half years in what she says is a co-ordinated campaign run by anti-vaxxers.
Much of the abuse on Twitter and via email "threatens violence and is of a highly sexual nature", the minister said when visiting to the Royal Women's Hospital on Friday.
Ms Hennessy hasn't reported the abuse to police - yet.
"(But) I may - I would not rule that out," the Labor MP told reporters, adding she understood federal police struggled to prosecute trolls because the abuse was usually anonymous.
Her threats often land late at night or early in the morning.
"I only shared the more moderate versions of it (the abuse)," Ms Hennessy said of a Herald Sun website video in which she read out threatening tweets.
"(However) these are people that go and investigate things about my life and my family and make threats."
The health minister acknowledges many parents have questions about vaccination.
She simply wants them answered by medical professionals rather than anti-vaxxers on the internet who have "zero" credibility and are "not innocent people that are (just) hippies or naturalists".
Ms Hennessy is worried people using social media are "increasingly crossing the line" during political debates and women are frequently the target.
Premier Daniel Andrews used social media to back his minister on Friday.
"We'll keep staring down the myths being pedalled by these quacks," he wrote on Twitter.
The minister also received support from other women in the health system who have received abuse, including medical researcher and Australian Skeptics vice-president Rachael Dunlop.
"I'm frequently abused," Dr Dunlop posted online.
"(It's) most vile when they go after parents of deceased children."
Health authorities recommend babies should be vaccinated for whooping cough and influenza from eight weeks and six months respectively.
New parents should also be immunised to help protect their newborns.
Obstetrician Penny Sheehan, speaking alongside the minister on Friday, said Australia's vaccination program had been "exceptionally successful".
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