For the first time in more than 25 years, fewer than 90% of Australian one-year-olds are up to date with whooping cough vaccination, according to a new report card.

The 2026 Whooping Cough Report Card, published by the Immunisation Foundation of Australia, identifies a stretch of east-coast holiday destinations with the lowest childhood protection against the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease.

The 'whooping cough corridor'

Eight local areas stretching from the northern rivers of New South Wales to the top of the Sunshine Coast form what the report calls a corridor of low coverage, interrupted only by Brisbane and its surrounds. Vaccination coverage for one-year-olds in these areas is up to 35% lower than in Australia's best-performing areas.

The lowest areas include the Richmond River Coast and Tweed Valley in northern New South Wales, and Coolangatta, the Gold Coast Hinterland, Nambour, Maroochy, Noosa and Noosa Hinterland in south-east Queensland. Sydney's Dural-Wisemans Ferry area and Western Australia's Gascoyne region are also among the bottom ten for one-year-old coverage.

By contrast, the best-performing areas include three in the Australian Capital Territory, three in Hobart, two in Sydney's north, one in Brisbane's inner-west and one in the Top End around Darwin.

Cases remain high after a record epidemic

Australia is at the tail end of a record-breaking whooping cough epidemic in 2024-25, and more than 8,900 cases have already been reported in 2026, the foundation said. The report was released to mark Whooping Cough Day on 8 November, with a call for Australians to stay up to date with boosters.

Teenagers show similar geographic differences in coverage, the report card found, and fewer than one in four Australians aged 50 and over are up to date with whooping cough vaccination.

A mother's warning

The foundation's founder, Catherine Hughes, whose 32-day-old son Riley died from whooping cough in 2015, said the fall in infant coverage should concern every parent. "For the first time in over 25 years, the proportion of Australian one-year-olds who are up to date with whooping cough vaccination has dropped below 90 per cent," she said.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious infection that can be life-threatening for babies. In Australia the vaccine is provided free under the National Immunisation Program, with doses for babies at two, four and six months of age, and health authorities advise pregnant people to be vaccinated so that newborns have protection.

The foundation said vigilance was needed as the peak period for the disease approaches, with coverage gaps leaving babies in the lowest-coverage areas at greater risk.