would be referred to the department of justice and the attorney general. the avn was given 28 days to respond to the findings. president meryl dorey declined to comment on the issue. revocation of authority to fundraise public notice. revocation of a.v.n. inc's authority to fundraise under charitable fundraising act. nsw state gazette no. 41, 2010, p. 5253. on 14 october 2010, the hon. kevin greene, m.p. revoked the avn's authority to fundraise, meaning they are no longer permitted to conduct appeals or receive donations from members of the public. reasons for the revocation were given as breaches of sections 31 (1) a, b and f of the charitable fundraising act 1991: their fundraising appeals have not been conducted in good faith for charitable purposes; their fundraising appeals have been improperly administered; their fundraising activities are not in the public interest. in response to the revocation, the avn issued a media release criticising the olgr's decision as being politically motivated, and difficult to understand given that the "revocation was based entirely upon the questionable decision by the hccc", rather than upon "the simple errors" detected by the olgr during their audit of the organisation. dorey appealed for the public to make donations to the avn before the revocation took effect on 20 october 2010. supreme court appeal as part of their appeal to the nsw supreme court in relation to the hccc complaint, the avn asked the court to invalidate the olgr's revocation of their fundraising authority, asking them to grant certiorari. in february 2012, the court rejected avn's argument, dismissed this particular complaint, and the fundraising prohibition remained. nsw office of fair trading name change order in december 2012, the new south wales office of fair trading issued an order for the avn to change its name within two months or be de-registered. the letter of action was delivered to the home of the organisation's president, meryl dorey. it described the name as misleading and a detriment to the community. the fair trading minister, anthony roberts, said that issue of vaccination was one of life and death and that the organisation's activities endangered people's safety. mr roberts has warned other states against the avn trying to register. robert vellar, the nsw fair trading assistant commissioner for compliance and enforcement, says the avn's name has misled parents seeking information. mr vellar added that the nsw government intended to change definitions in the associations act to prevent groups from using names that were in conflict with their charter. the president of the ama (nsw), assoc prof brian owler, said the avn needed to take responsibility for information it gave to parents. the avn is fighting the renaming order in the courts. this order was challenged by the group. the challenge was dismissed, and on 25 november 2013 the new south wales office of fair trading order was upheld by the administrative decisions tribunal. in february 2014 the group changed its name to the australian vaccination-skeptics network. comparison of vaccination to rape in april 2015 the avn facebook page drew international attention for publishing a simulated rape photo ad with text saying that vaccinations are "forced penetration" and asking "do you really 'need' control over your own body?" it drew criticism from the ceo of domestic violence victoria, the federal shadow minister for health catherine king mp, the federal minister for health sussan ley mp, the president of the ama, the nsw rape crisis centre, as well as supporters of the group. catherine king mp said that "equating doctors with rapists shows how completely unhinged the avn has become". avn responded: "this post isn't tasteless - it is honest. what truly is tasteless is our elected government trying to tell us that we have to vaccinate our children even if we don't believe it is best for their health". president of the avn, tasha david, claimed her organisation did not own or control the page. within days the facebook group was reported as having been shut down. it was not the first time avn had allegedly used vaccination-rape comparison, in 2011 it tweeted "court orders rape of a child" in relation to a court ordering a five-year-old girl to be vaccinated. other controversies in march 2007, the avn made certain erroneous comments on their website, including claims that the australian medical association(ama) received funding from pharmaceutical companies and actively censored information provided to its members. these claims were factually incorrect, and the ama took legal action against the avn. the avn withdrew the claims and issued a public apology on 21 march 2007. in 2011, the australian vaccination network's advice against vaccination, and their refusal to display the hccc safety warning on their website, was included in australian doctor magazine's top 50 medical scandals of the past 50 years. 2009 winners: meryl dorey & the australian (anti)vaccination network the australian skeptics awarded their bent spoon award, "presented annually to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle", to meryl dorey and the avn in 2009, stating that the award had been earned through their "scaremongering and misinformation about childhood vaccination". in response, dorey stated that winning the award meant she was "on the right track". in september 2010, the avn was accused of numerous copyright breaches relating to their sale of information packs containing photocopies of selected parts of old medical journal articles, newspaper reports and cartoons. after receiving complaints from authors and copyright holders, the avn withdrew the packs from sale on their website. several authors stated that they had not given permission for the avn to reproduce the material and would seek payment for their past use. they also criticised the avn's use of the articles as they were "old and not based on current information". federal parliament following the avn's public objections to the australian government's 1998 australian measles control campaign, the then federal health minister michael wooldridge issued a media release which was highly critical of the group, writing: "i am deeply concerned that media organisations risk giving credibility to the crackpot views of the avn by publishing, without question, their untrue and deceitful claims. ultimately, young children who are particularly vulnerable to measles could suffer if their parents were influenced by the anti-science, irrational views of the avn." in 2013, greens senator richard di natale put forward a motion calling for the australian vaccination network to be disbanded, citing the risks that low-levels of vaccination posed to the health of children in australia. the motion was passed by the australian senate. senator di natale condemned the organisation, stating in a press release: "the avn have gone so far as to promote measles as a healthy gift from mother nature and not the deadly disease it really is. as a doctor, i saw first-hand the tragedy these easily preventable diseases can cause. today the senate has joined with the public health community to send a clear and strong message to those who are peddling lies about vaccines - they should pack up and go home." nsw parliament in a response to a parliamentary question about the avn's statements regarding the mmr vaccine, in september 2012 the nsw minister for health and minister for medical research said: "the australian vaccination network has not provided accurate information to parents about the risks and benefits of immunisation. any link between the measles vaccine and autism has been conclusively discredited by numerous studies and reviews by credible experts, including the world health organization, the american academy of paediatrics and the uk medical research council." during the nsw parliamentary debate on the health legislation amendment bill 2013, the alp's andrew mcdonald (shadow health minister at the time) warned that the avn's name and website were "designed to mislead unsuspecting community members to believe that a balanced view about immunisation is being presented" and that "when provoked, australian vaccination network's fellow travellers can and do behave reprehensibly," while a liberal state parliamentarian, matt kean, described the avn as "a group of flat-earthers and wing-nuts who believe that vaccination is unnecessary. indeed, the group has claimed that vaccination is harmful to individuals, which is contrary to all the scientific evidence." in further debate, members of parliament described the avn as "placing children at risk", "negligent", "misleading" and "disreputable". the late nsw greens mlc john kaye lobbied against what he called avn's "voodoo claims and conspiracy theories". describing avn as "disgraceful", he said: "spreading misinformation about childhood immunisation could be deadly". in the nsw legislative council, peter robert phelps described the avn as "insane", while trevor khan called the avn a "danger to public health" for "touting unscientific propaganda". anthony john roberts, the state's minister for fair trading, said that "it is incredibly irresponsible for an avowedly anti-vaccination group to advertise itself as a balanced source of information on vaccination. such action is not only misleading to the public but also dangerous to those who believe they are referring to evidence-based medical advice..." the government, the medical community and the australian medical association led by associate professor brian owler are in agreement that the name australian vaccination network "is unacceptable". queensland parliament in december 2011 the queensland minister for health, geoffrey wilson, issued a media statement criticising the avn with the following comment, "for the small number of people who might be entertained by what ms dorey has to say, woodford folk festival has a place for everyone. just don't take her nonsense too seriously." to this, wilson added, "the fact is vaccinations have saved millions of lives. their invention was a miracle of scientific achievement." other criticisms during 2002 while speaking in the new south wales legislative council about low vaccination rates in the nsw northern rivers region, liberal politician brian pezzutti criticised meryl dorey: "only 60 per cent of children in the byron bay area in the 12 to 15 month age group - the very young and most vulnerable - are immunised. that is mainly because of the activities of a woman called meryl dorey, who lives in byron bay and who has decided not to immunise her children and who regularly claims that immunisation is not necessary. she campaigns against immunisation." australian entrepreneur dick smith, who had previously run a national ad in the australian asking parents to ignore avn's claims, has been highly critical of the organisation, stating: "they are actually anti-vaccination, and they should put on every bit of their material that they are anti-vaccination in great big words. they have every right for that belief but they should communicate it clearly so people are not misled." and "i think they're choosing not to vaccinate because they don't understand risk management - they are told that there is a risk with vaccination - now everything in life has a risk. there's a minute risk but it's been proved all over the world that the advantages far outweigh the risk." following the avn's decision to hold an anti-vaccination seminar at the western australian state library, the shadow arts minister john hyde criticised the state government for allowing the group to "push its anti-vaccine message", saying: "why should a group that endangers the lives of wa children be allowed to speak and promote their cause at a taxpayer-funded venue dedicated to learning? their dangerous propaganda which is putting children at risk of polio, smallpox, cholera and other preventable diseases should not be able to gain respectability by using the good name of the state library." during an interview on abc lateline in july 2010, the 1997 australian of the year and 1996 nobel prize for medicine laureate, immunologist peter c. doherty described the avn's attempts to reduce the child immunisation rate as a "crime against humanity". in 2011 skeptic brian dunning listed avn as #4 on his "top 10 worst anti-science websites" list. in a 2016 press release responding to questions from avn's meryl dorey, the australian sex party publicly stated: "the safety and efficacy of vaccination is not an area of scientific controversy. the claim that governments and scientists are all conspiring to mislead us ... is absurd and irresponsible... the claims of the anti-vaccination movement have been thoroughly debunked. choosing not to vaccinate your children amounts to medical neglect; this is a serious ethical issue... we at the australian sex party would like to