Regulators and professional bodies
Who regulates Australian doctors, what their credentials mean, and where they appear on NewDoc.
- AHPRAAustralian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
- The national agency that registers and regulates Australia's health practitioners on behalf of the National Boards (including the Medical Board of Australia). All NewDoc GPs are AHPRA-registered medical practitioners.
- Source: Ahpra
- Medical Board of Australia
- The National Board that sets registration standards for medical practitioners and works with AHPRA on professional regulation, including codes of conduct, telehealth standards, and continuing professional development requirements.
- Source: Medical Board of Australia
- RACGPRoyal Australian College of General Practitioners
- The professional body that sets standards for general practice in Australia and confers the FRACGP qualification. Australian-trained GPs typically complete RACGP training to become Fellows.
- Source: RACGP
- FRACGPFellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- A post-graduate qualification awarded by the RACGP after completion of recognised general practice training in Australia. FRACGP is the recognised standard for qualified GPs in Australia and signals an Australian-trained General Practitioner.
- About Dr. Jason Yu FRACGP →Source: RACGP Fellowship pathways
- Fair Work Ombudsman
- The federal regulator that publishes free guidance on Australian workplace rights, investigates breaches of the Fair Work Act, and runs an advice line. The starting point for any question about whether an employer can require a medical certificate, what evidence is acceptable for personal leave, and what entitlements an employee has.
- Source: Fair Work Ombudsman
Medicare, billing, and out-of-pocket costs
How Medicare reimburses GP visits, what bulk billing actually means, and the patient-side cost concepts.
- Medicare
- Australia's universal public health insurance scheme. Eligible Australians and permanent residents hold a Medicare card and receive subsidised or fully covered access to GP, hospital, pathology, and imaging services.
- Source: Services Australia: Medicare
- MBSMedicare Benefits Schedule
- The federal government's list of medical services that Medicare subsidises, with a unique item number and rebate amount for each. GP consultations, telehealth consultations, mental health care plans, and chronic disease management plans are all listed by item number on the MBS.
- Source: MBS Online
- Bulk billing
- When a doctor accepts the Medicare rebate as full payment for a consultation, with no out-of-pocket cost to the patient. NewDoc telehealth consultations are bulk billed for eligible Medicare cardholders.
- Bulk billed telehealth →Source: Services Australia: bulk billing
- Gap feeOut-of-pocket cost
- The difference between a doctor's charge and the Medicare rebate for a service, paid by the patient when the doctor does not bulk bill. A bulk billed consultation has no gap fee.
- PBSPharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
- The federal scheme that subsidises the cost of many prescription medications in Australia. PBS-listed medications have a maximum patient co-payment set by the federal government, regardless of where the script is dispensed.
- Source: PBS
Medicare care plans
The structured plans a GP can prepare under Medicare to coordinate care and unlock subsidised allied-health and specialist sessions.
- Mental Health Treatment PlanMHTP
- A care plan a GP can prepare for patients experiencing a mental health condition. An MHTP unlocks Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions and sets out goals and strategies for ongoing mental health care.
- Mental Health Treatment Plan →Source: Services Australia: Mental Health Treatment Plan
- GP Management PlanGPMP
- A Medicare care plan historically prepared by a GP for patients with a chronic medical condition; the plan documents the patient's health needs, treatment goals, and providers involved in their care. Recent Medicare reforms have progressively rolled the GP arm of chronic-disease planning into the GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP).
- GP Management Plan →Source: Services Australia: GP Chronic Condition Management Plan
- Chronic Disease Management PlanCDM Plan
- A broader Medicare arrangement that combines a GP Management Plan with a Team Care Arrangement, for patients with a chronic medical condition who need care from multiple providers. Unlocks Medicare-subsidised allied health services.
- Chronic Disease Management Plan →
- Health assessment
- A structured Medicare-subsidised review available to specific eligible groups, including people aged 75 and over, people with intellectual disability, and certain other categories. Reviews physical, psychological, and social wellbeing and identifies follow-up actions.
- Health assessments →
Prescriptions and medications
How an Australian prescription works, the script formats you may receive, and the medication scheduling system that determines what a GP can or cannot prescribe via telehealth.
- eScriptElectronic prescription
- An electronic prescription delivered as an SMS or email token containing a QR code. Any pharmacy in Australia can scan the token to dispense the medication, so eScripts work with any pharmacy regardless of which GP issued them.
- Repeat prescriptions online →Source: Australian Digital Health Agency: electronic prescriptions
- Repeat prescription
- A prescription for a medication you have been on before, where the GP confirms there has been no change to your health, blood pressure, or current medications and reissues a script. Repeats are commonly issued via telehealth where clinically appropriate.
- Repeat prescriptions online →
- Schedule 4 medicationS4 / Prescription Only Medicine
- Medications that legally require a prescription from a registered medical practitioner. Most antibiotics, antihypertensives, contraceptives, and inhalers are Schedule 4. A telehealth GP can prescribe these where clinically appropriate.
- Schedule 8 medicationS8 / Controlled Drug
- Medications subject to additional controls due to abuse and dependence potential, such as strong opioids and stimulants. State and territory rules generally restrict Schedule 8 prescribing in telehealth, so where clinically appropriate a NewDoc GP will refer to an in-person provider for these.
Services and care levels
The terms that come up when you are deciding where to get care in Australia.
- Telehealth
- Health care delivered remotely by video or telephone. Australian Medicare covers eligible telehealth GP consultations, and a GP can prescribe, refer, and certify entirely via telehealth where clinically appropriate.
- Book a telehealth appointment →
- Medicare Urgent Care ClinicUCC
- A bulk billed walk-in clinic funded under the Strengthening Medicare program, designed for urgent but non-life-threatening problems that need same-day in-person assessment. UCCs are GP-led and operate extended hours.
- Find a Medicare UCC →Source: Department of Health: Medicare Urgent Care Clinics
- Emergency DepartmentED
- The hospital department for life-threatening or severe presentations. Call 000 for any emergency. Wait times in Australian EDs depend on triage category and time of day; live wait times are published by several state health departments.
- Live ED wait times →
- Triage
- The clinical sorting process used in emergency departments to prioritise patients by severity. The Australasian Triage Scale runs from category 1 (immediately life-threatening, seen straight away) to category 5 (less urgent, may wait up to two hours).
- Where to get care
- The decision between an emergency department, a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, and a bulk billed telehealth GP. Match the level of care to the urgency: ED for life-threatening symptoms, UCC for urgent in-person needs, telehealth for prescriptions, certificates, referrals, and most non-urgent issues.
- Compare ED vs UCC vs telehealth →
- 1800MEDICAREHealthdirect
- Australia's federally-funded 24/7 nurse-triage line, accessible by phone (1800 633 422), app, or via healthdirect.gov.au. Free advice on what to do for non-emergency health concerns; the nurse can also transfer you to a free after-hours GP between 6pm and 8am weeknights and on weekends.
- How 1800MEDICARE works →Source: Healthdirect Australia: 1800MEDICARE
Documents and referrals
The paperwork a GP can issue during a telehealth consultation, what each one is used for, and when it expires.
- Medical certificate
- A document a GP can issue confirming a patient's fitness for work, school, or other commitments. Australian medical certificates can be issued via telehealth where the GP has assessed the patient and the issuing is clinically appropriate.
- Medical certificates online →
- Specialist referral
- A GP letter that allows you to claim Medicare rebates for visits to a specialist. Standard GP referrals are valid for 12 months from the first specialist appointment. Telehealth GPs can issue specialist referrals electronically.
- Specialist referrals online →
- Pathology referralBlood test referral
- A GP request that lets you have blood tests or other pathology done at a collection centre. Eligible tests are bulk billed by most major pathology providers under Medicare.
- Blood test referrals online →
- Imaging referral
- A GP request for diagnostic imaging such as X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI, or DEXA. Some imaging is bulk billed under Medicare, others may attract an out-of-pocket fee depending on the provider and item.
- Imaging referrals online →
Workplace leave and evidence
Australian workplace law terms that affect what evidence (medical certificate, statutory declaration) employers can request, and what leave employees are entitled to.
- National Employment StandardsNES
- The 11 minimum entitlements that apply to all employees under the Fair Work Act 2009, including paid personal/carer's leave (sick leave), annual leave, public holidays, and notice of termination. Awards and enterprise agreements can offer above-NES entitlements but never below.
- Source: Fair Work Ombudsman: National Employment Standards
- Personal leaveSick leave
- The Fair Work Act's name for paid sick leave. Full-time employees accrue 10 days (76 hours) per year, pro-rated for part-time employees; casuals don't accrue paid personal leave but are entitled to unpaid carer's leave. Mental-health absences are taken from the same accrual.
- Source: Fair Work Ombudsman: Sick and carer's leave
- Carer's leave
- Leave to care for an immediate family or household member who is unwell, injured, or affected by an unexpected emergency. Drawn from the same NES accrual as personal leave for full-time and part-time employees; casuals are entitled to up to 2 unpaid days per occasion.
- Carer's certificate online →Source: Fair Work Ombudsman: Sick and carer's leave
- Statutory declarationStat dec
- A written statement that the maker swears to be true, signed in front of an authorised witness. Under the Fair Work Act, a statutory declaration is generally acceptable evidence for personal or carer's leave where a medical certificate isn't readily available, although employers can specify in policies, awards or enterprise agreements which forms of evidence they require. Making a false stat dec is a criminal offence.
- Source: Attorney-General's Department: Statutory declarations
- Stress leave
- A common term for time off work due to mental-health symptoms (stress, burnout, anxiety, low mood). It is not a separate workplace entitlement under the NES — leave for these reasons is taken as personal leave from the same NES accrual (10 days per year for full-time employees, pro-rated for part-time, none for casuals), and the medical certificate does not need to disclose the diagnosis.
- Source: Fair Work Ombudsman: Sick and carer's leave
Reviewed by Dr. Jason Yu FRACGP, Chief Medical Officer, NewDoc
Last reviewed 4 May 2026. Editorial policy