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, aged-care providers, and border officials tend to ask for. You can see your record any time through your Medicare online account or the Medicare app, or ask any pharmacy 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. You are added to the register when a provider reports your first vaccine, and it 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. When the pharmacy reports electronically, the dose often appears on your history within a day or two, and providers have up to ten working days to report it; if a system issue or a missing Medicare number delays it, 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. Because it usually shows quickly, you can ask the pharmacist to confirm your dose has reached the register before you leave the counter.
How to view your record
The fastest route is the Medicare app, which loads your history on screen and saves it as a PDF.
The same statement is available through your Medicare online account in myGov, under the Medicare service. If you cannot use the app or myGov, any pharmacy or GP can print your immunisation history statement at no charge through their secure provider access, and Services Australia can help on the AIR enquiry line, 1800 653 809, or at a service centre. 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's process is to take the original evidence (the vaccinator's record, an overseas vaccination card, or a GP's history) to any pharmacy or GP, who can submit a correction or addition to the register, and the update generally appears within a few business days. For an overseas dose you will need the documentation showing the vaccine, the date, and the provider, and the pharmacist or GP can advise whether it is recognised under the Australian schedule. 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 Medicare app or your myGov Medicare account to view or download it, and a pharmacy or GP can print it if you cannot get online.
