Australian Immunisation Register update

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Content last updated 4/07/2025

Australian Immunisation Register update

Recent enhancements have been made to the Australian Immunisation Register relating to Gender X and the recording of a generic COVID-19 vaccine.

Gender X

  • Medicare and related programs now consistently capture ‘gender’ rather than ‘sex’ and accommodate the recording of non-binary (X) and title Mx on the AIR. This aligns with Medicare and their practices with the Australian Government Gender Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender and ABS Standards for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables.
  • Individuals can update their gender with Medicare via myGov (online or via the app), in person, or over the phone with Services Australia. No documents are required. The gender recorded in Medicare will be synchronised with AIR overnight.
  • Providers can indicate the gender of an individual via the AIR site or practice software when creating or updating a record. This does not change the gender recorded on their Medicare registration. In these circumstances individuals enrolled in Medicare should also update their gender preference with Medicare directly.
  • Software vendors have been advised of this change and providers should contact their software provider for further information.

Generic COVID-19 vaccine

  • A new Generic COVID-19 vaccine can now be recorded on the AIR for unrecognised COVID -19 vaccines administered overseas only.