You’ll need to submit a form to add your newborn baby to your Medicare card. A newborn baby is a child up to 52 weeks or up to the day of their 1st birthday.
How to add a newborn
To add your newborn baby to your Medicare card, you need to submit a:
- Newborn Child Declaration form, provided in the Parent Pack from your hospital or midwife, or
- Medicare enrolment form with supporting documentation, including proof of your child’s birth
You can also enrol your baby using your Centrelink online account if claiming:
- Family Tax Benefit
- Parental Leave Pay, or
- Dad and Partner Pay
Once enrolled, your child is on the Australian Immunisation Register.
What is a Newborn Child Declaration form
You’ll get a Parent Pack from your hospital or midwife, including a Newborn Child Declaration form.
The Newborn Child Declaration is the proof of birth document we accept for your newborn child.
You can enrol your baby using this form until they’re 52 weeks of age or up to the day of their 1st birthday.
You can submit the form:
- using your Centrelink online account through myGov
- using your Express Plus Centrelink mobile app
- by post, or
- at a service centre
If you don't have a Newborn Child Declaration form
If you don't have a Newborn Child Declaration form or your child is older than 52 weeks, you can:
- complete a Medicare enrolment form
- provide a proof of birth document and any other supporting documents we ask you for, and
- submit these documents as per the instructions on the form
How to enrol your child who was born overseas
When you’re an Australian citizen
Your child enters Australia on a foreign passport
Your child can enrol if they've been granted Australian citizenship.
You've been overseas less than 5 years
If you’ve been overseas less than 5 years, you’ll need to give:
- a completed Medicare enrolment form
- your child’s foreign passport
- your child’s Australian citizenship certificate, and
- your child’s birth certificate
You've been overseas more than 5 years
If you’ve been overseas more than 5 years, you’ll also need to give:
- passports for all people listed on the enrolment application, and
- 2 documents proving you live in Australia, or
- a statutory declaration saying your family’s returned to live in Australia
Documents to prove you live in Australia
You can prove you live in Australia by providing documents from the list below:
- 2 Australian documents, or
- 1 Australian document and 1 from where you last lived
| Documents from another country | Documents from Australia |
|---|---|
| Proof you sold your property | Rental or lease agreement |
| Proof you ended your lease | Bond receipt |
| Proof you ended your job | Proof of your job |
| Proof you moved household goods or furniture | Proof your child’s in school or childcare |
| A statement showing you closed your bank account | A statement from your bank or health, property or contents insurance |
| Proof you cancelled health, property or contents insurance | Gas, electricity, water or rates statement |
Documents must be original or certified copies.
If you and your child have come back to Australia to live and your child’s an Australian citizen, they’re eligible for Medicare the date they arrive.
Otherwise your child’s eligible the date they get citizenship.
Your child enters Australia on an Australian passport
If your child’s born overseas, they’re eligible for Medicare if they have:
- an Australian passport, and
- entered Australia to live
You've been overseas less than 5 years
If you’ve been overseas less than 5 years, you’ll need to give:
- a completed Medicare enrolment form
- your child’s Australian passport, and
- your child’s birth certificate or birth extract
You've been overseas more than 5 years
If you‘ve been overseas more than 5 years, you’ll also need to give:
- passports for all people listed on the enrolment form
- 2 documents proving you live in Australia, or
- a statutory declaration saying your family’s returned to live in Australia
Documents must be original or certified copies.
When you’re an Australian permanent resident
If your child was born overseas, you must apply for their permanent residency to be eligible for Medicare.
You've been overseas less than 1 year
If you’ve been overseas less than 1 year, you’ll need to give:
- a completed Medicare enrolment form
- your child’s passport
- your child’s visa and proof of application for permanent residency, and
- your child’s birth certificate
You've been overseas more than 1 year
If you’ve been overseas more than 1 year, you’ll also need to give:
- passports for all people listed on the enrolment form
- 2 documents proving you live in Australia, and
- proof that you, as a parent, are still eligible for Medicare
Documents must be original or certified copies.
When you’re applying for permanent residency
If your child was born overseas after you applied, you’ll need to apply for their permanent residency.
Your child can enter on a temporary Dependent Child visa subclass 445. They’re not eligible for Medicare until you apply for their permanent residency.
When you’ve applied for permanent residency for your child, you can enrol them in Medicare. You’ll need to give us a completed Medicare enrolment form and your child’s:
- passport
- visa and proof of application for permanent residency, and
- birth certificate.
Submit
Submit your request to enrol in Medicare at a service centre.