The Morning Edition

Forged via Facebook. The anti-vax parents faking child health records

Feb 1, 2026
Kayla Olaya, investigative reporter who uncovered doctors listed in Facebook groups for falsifying child immunisation records. She explains how parents evade Australia’s no jab no play rules. The conversation covers how the falsified entries were found, public-health risks, a family’s loss to whooping cough, rising hesitancy since COVID, and the challenges of holding practitioners to account.
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ANECDOTE

Facebook Post Revealed The Scheme

  • Kayla Olaya found a Facebook post offering to upload full immunisation records to Medicare without jabs after scrolling her feed.
  • The anonymous poster claimed to have helped hundreds and asked interested parents to DM on Signal.
INSIGHT

Mandates Create Financial Pressure

  • No jab, no play and no pay, no jab policies restrict childcare access and payments for unvaccinated children unless exempted.
  • Kayla Olaya notes families sometimes pay large sums to bypass these rules, creating strong incentives to falsify records.
ANECDOTE

Mother’s Tragedy Turned Into Advocacy

  • Catherine Hughes lost her 32-day-old son Riley to whooping cough in 2015 after community vaccination gaps.
  • She later founded the Immunisation Foundation of Australia to advocate for maternal pertussis vaccination.
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