Queensland senator-in-waiting Pauline Hanson says parents should think twice about vaccinating their children and that the government has failed to screen immigrants posing public-health threats.

The One Nation leader believes vaccines may cause autism, stemming from a variety of anti-vaccination theories, after participating in the anti-vax movement at Melbourne Zoo in January.

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Known as The Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network, the group blames vaccines for the rising rates in cancer and autism and has compared routine vaccinations to sexual assault, likening it to forced penetration.

Meanwhile, Ms Hanson believes parents need to be cautious of giving their kids vaccines.

“I have many people who have brought it to my attention, that’s why their kids are autistic,” she told The Daily Mail.

“We haven’t done the research enough, what is causing these kids to have autism, what is having all the cancer in our community, have we had enough answers into the cancer?”

However, there has been no evidence to support her claim. A 2014 study by the University of Sydney found there is no link between autism and vaccination.

Ms Hanson has also said the government should be more concerned on screening immigrants.

“There were people coming in from 2006 when Tony Abbott was Health Minister and only 37 per cent were actually checked, and it was found a lot of them were carrying diseases,” she said.

“It’s hypocritical and the migrants apply who come here, why are they just coming through the country and the government failed to do anything about those mainly from Africa.”