General information
This guide is based on publicly available information from official sources, including the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Services Australia, Healthdirect and other Australian Government health and pharmacy bodies. It is general information, not personal medical advice, and may change over time. With any medicine, always read the label and use only as directed, and if symptoms persist see your doctor or health care professional. Check anything that affects you with your pharmacist or GP. In an emergency, call 000.
The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is the national record of the vaccines you have been given in Australia. When a pharmacist vaccinates you, they report it to the AIR, and it appears on your immunisation history statement, the document that schools, employers, and aged-care providers tend to ask for. You can see your record any time through your Medicare online account in myGov or the myGov app, or ask your vaccination provider (for example your pharmacist or general practitioner (GP)) to print it. This guide covers what the register holds, how a pharmacist adds to it, how to view your record, and how it differs from the certificate you need for yellow fever travel.
What the register holds
Services Australia runs the AIR under the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing funds it. It records vaccines given to everyone in Australia, whether or not you hold a Medicare card, so the childhood schedule, National Immunisation Program doses at any age, most school-based vaccines, most travel vaccines, and pharmacist-administered vaccines all sit in the one record. If you are enrolled in Medicare, Services Australia says you are already on the AIR; if you are not, you are added when a recognised vaccination provider reports a vaccine you have been given. The register holds your name, date of birth, Medicare number where you have one, and your vaccine history.
The register keeps a person's childhood and adult doses in a single lifelong record, from the first vaccine reported to the most recent.
How a pharmacist adds to your record
The pharmacist enters the dose into their vaccination software at the time of vaccination, and the software sends the record to the AIR through a secure Services Australia interface. Services Australia says it can take up to 10 days, or longer in some situations, for a dose to show on your immunisation history statement. According to Queensland Health, National Immunisation Program, influenza, COVID-19 and Japanese encephalitis vaccines must be reported to the AIR within 24 hours, and no more than 10 working days after the vaccination. If a system issue or a missing Medicare number delays the report, the pharmacist can resubmit once that is resolved. The record itself carries the date, the vaccine name and batch number, the dose number where relevant, and the identifiers for the pharmacist and the pharmacy. If the record matters to you soon, you can ask the pharmacist before you leave the counter whether your dose has been reported.
How to view your record
The Express Plus Medicare app retired on 1 November 2025, and Services Australia now points people to the myGov app or their Medicare online account to get the statement.
The same statement is available through your Medicare online account in myGov, under the Medicare service. If you cannot use myGov, your vaccination provider (for example your pharmacist or GP) can print your immunisation history statement for you, or you can call the AIR on 1800 653 809 (Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm) to have it posted, which Services Australia says can take up to 14 days to arrive. The printed statement shows your full vaccination history and suits almost every domestic purpose, from school and family day care to an employer or an aged-care provider.
The immunisation history statement and the yellow fever ICVP
For most domestic and many international purposes, the AIR immunisation history statement is the document to present. The one common exception is yellow fever, where border officials require the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP), a separate World Health Organization (WHO)-approved certificate issued only by an accredited centre. The AIR statement does not stand in for it.
| Document | Covers | Issued by | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIR immunisation history statement | Most Australian vaccinations | Services Australia | Domestic use, most travel vaccines |
| ICVP | Yellow fever | An accredited yellow fever centre | Yellow fever border rules |
Services Australia issues the immunisation history statement; the ICVP comes only from an accredited yellow fever vaccination centre.
Our guide to the yellow fever vaccine in Australia explains the accredited-centre rule and the certificate in full.
If a record is wrong or missing
Records can be incomplete, most often a dose that was never submitted, one recorded under an old name, or a vaccine given overseas that is not yet in the AIR. Services Australia advises asking the provider who gave the vaccine to correct or add the record, and calling the AIR if that provider cannot update it. For a vaccine given overseas, only a recognised vaccination provider in Australia (for example your GP or pharmacist) can add it, using documents in English that show the vaccines you have had, according to Services Australia. If the problem is an old name, updating your details with Services Australia first lets a provider refresh the link.
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Frequently asked questions
You can open your immunisation history in the myGov app or your Medicare online account in myGov to view or download it, and your vaccination provider (for example your pharmacist or GP) can print it if you cannot get online.
