How to request your personal information

Accessing your information

You have rights to access your own information under the:

• Privacy Act 1988
• National Health Act 1953
• Health Insurance Act 1973
• Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) claims information

You can request your Medicare and PBS information by:

• completing the form below
• writing to Medicare Australia, providing the same information as required on the form

Residents in NT, Qld, SA, Tas and WA send requests to:

Information Release section
Medicare Australia
GPO Box 9822
Brisbane QLD 4001

or fax to 07 3004 5282.

Residents in ACT, NSW and Vic send requests to:

Information Release section
Medicare Australia
GPO Box 9822
Sydney NSW 2001

or fax to 02 9895 3285.

Note: Medicare and PBS claims information is available for the past five years.

To request Medicare or PBS information for an individual or a family, complete the Request for Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) claims information for individuals and families form.

Note: Medicare and PBS information is available for the past five years. There is a 28 day turnaround for information requested for the past five years.

Note: all family members aged 14 years of age and older must sign the form.

Express or implied authority

To authorise Medicare Australia to release personal Medicare or PBS information to a third party, for example to an insurance company, complete the relevant form:

• Authority to release personal Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme claims information to a third party

Note: Medicare and PBS information is available for the past five years. There is a 28 day turnaround for information requested for the past five years.

Information sheets

The following information sheets provide more information about common requests received by Medicare Australia’s information release teams.

• Express or implied authority [PDF, 294Kb]
• Express or implied authority [RTF, 13Kb]
• Requesting information about yourself or a child [PDF, 283Kb]
• Requesting information about yourself or a child [RTF, 11Kb]
• Medicare benefit tax statements
• Subpoenas and notices of non-party disclosure [PDF, 291Kb]
• Subpoenas and notices of non-party disclosure [RTF, 16Kb]
• Commonwealth Information Orders (Location Orders) and Recovery orders [PDF, 284Kb]
• Commonwealth Information Orders (Location Orders) and Recovery orders [RTF, 15Kb]
• Provider Directory System (PDS) [PDF, 289Kb]
• Provider Directory System (PDS) [RTF, 14Kb]
• Public interest requests including the police and coroner [PDF, 286Kb]
• Public interest requests including the police and coroner [RTF, 27Kb]

Access to other information held by Medicare Australia

If you need access to your personal information collected under other programs administered by Medicare Australia, for example the Australian Organ Donor Register, view our Medicare Australia contact list page.

Requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

You can request access to information held by Medicare Australia under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). The FOI Act gives the public certain rights to access official documents held by Australian Commonwealth Government agencies.

For details about how to request information under the FOI Act see the Freedom of information page.

Note: requests for your own personal Medicare and/or PBS claims information can be obtained outside of the FOI Act.

Some documents on this page may require the free Adobe PDF reader.

Last updated: 16 May, 2012

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