Adding your new baby to Medicare

Medicare (Opens in new tab) is Australia's universal health insurance scheme. It allows Australians to use many health and hospital services for free or at a low cost.

Medicare is funded by Australian taxpayers.

You should sign your baby up for Medicare soon after they are born.

Once your baby is on your Medicare card, they can get free or low-cost healthcare.

Up until their first birthday, you can sign up your baby to Medicare using a Newborn Child Declaration. Your hospital or midwife would have given you the Newborn Child Declaration form with your Parent Pack, when your baby was born. 

This form can be used as an official proof of birth. The back page of the form must be filled out and signed by a midwife or doctor. Submitting this form will automatically sign your baby up for Medicare. 

Where do I send the Newborn Child Declaration?

Instructions for where to send the Newborn Child Declaration form are also included in the Parent Pack.

What if I don't have a Newborn Child Declaration form?

If you don't have a Newborn Child Declaration form, you will need:  

• your child's birth certificate
• a Medicare enrolment form (Opens in new tab)

You can mail or email the form to Medicare. You don't need to get your supporting documents certified.

You may also be able to get a replacement Newborn Child Declaration form by contacting the hospital ward or birth centre where your baby was born. 

You can use your completed Newborn Child Declaration form to add your baby to Medicare using the myGov website or app. 

The best way to do this depends on how you usually connect with government services such as Centrelink. 

If you claim a Centrelink family payment

If you receive the Family Tax Benefit, including Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement, or Parental Leave Pay you can submit your completed Newborn Child Declaration through your:

• Centrelink online account (Opens in new tab) through myGov (Opens in new tab)
• Express Plus Centrelink mobile app (Opens in new tab) 

If you don’t claim a Centrelink family payment

If you don’t receive a government payment you can still add your baby to Medicare online. Submit your completed Newborn Child Declaration through your:

• Medicare online account (Opens in new tab) through myGov (Opens in new tab)
• Express Plus Centrelink mobile app (Opens in new tab)

This way, you can get an updated digital version (Opens in new tab) of your Medicare card straight away. 

Find out about using your Medicare online account (Opens in new tab).

It takes about 3 to 4 weeks to get a new Medicare card with your baby's name on it.

You can also get a digital version (Opens in new tab) of your Medicare card. To access it, sign into the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app (Opens in new tab). You will need a myGov account to use the app.

You can register a child who is older than 1 year with Medicare. You will need a Medicare enrolment form (Opens in new tab) as well as their birth certificate.

Your baby can be listed on 2 Medicare cards. For this to happen you need to fill out another form. The form is called application to copy or transfer from one Medicare card to another form (Opens in new tab).

Enrolling your baby for Medicare will also add them to the Australian Immunisation Register (Opens in new tab). This register keeps track of your baby's vaccinations.

You can access your digital Medicare card and immunisation records through myGov (Opens in new tab).

My Health Record (Opens in new tab) is a secure online summary of your baby's health information. It allows you to share your baby's health information with doctors and other healthcare providers.

You can get a My Health Record for your newborn by completing the Newborn Child Declaration form and registering them for their My Health Record.

My Health Record can help you keep track of your baby's health information including:

• vaccination records
• allergy information
• medicines they are taking

The Medicare Safety Net (Opens in new tab) gives more money back to families who spend a lot on healthcare.

If your family is registered for the Medicare Safety Net, you will need to tell Medicare about your new baby. You can do this by filling in the Medicare Safety Net registration and amendment for couples and families form (Opens in new tab). You can also call Medicare on 132 011.

If you are an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person, another way to add your baby to your Medicare card is by filling in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (Opens in new tab).

You will need a referee to sign the form if you don’t have any standard identification. Standard identification could be a driving licence or birth certificate. The form tells you who can be a referee.

You can mail or email the form to Medicare Enrolment Services.

If you need help with the form, you can call the Indigenous access line (Opens in new tab) on 1800 556 955.

You can get recommendations for a doctor in your area from your:

• child health nurse
• midwife
• family or friends

Find out more about enrolling your baby in Medicare on the Services Australia website (Opens in new tab).

Read more about what happens when your baby arrives (Opens in new tab).

Information for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples

Find out about Medicare services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (Opens in new tab)

If you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person and have a question for Services Australia, you can call 1800 136 380.