Indigenous enrolments in Medicare 011-44130000

Cultural and other special circumstances for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians can cause difficulty in identification. Concessions have been afforded to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when enrolling in Medicare when needed.

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who can provide standard identity documents must complete a Medicare enrolment form (MS004).

If they cannot produce identification documents, they can use the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018).

The Resources page contains link to the forms.

Note: an Aboriginal Population Record (APR) is an acceptable identity document for all Medicare enrolments.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018)

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) has been specifically designed for, and can only be used by, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who cannot provide identification documents.

In these cases, a referee can complete the Proof of Identity section (Section 2 on the form). A referee can be a:

• community elder
• school principal
• permanent Commonwealth employee with five or more years of continuous service
• council chairperson
• medical or health service manager or nurse
• minister of religion
• welfare organisation worker

Bulk enrolments

When doing a bulk enrolment of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, the Service Officer does not need to follow the enrolment procedure defined in Enrolment Procedures for Indigenous people, provided the enrolment procedure is consistent with the principles as defined in the policy.

Memorandum of understanding

Where enrolment of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people is started under the provisions of a memorandum of understanding, the enrolment procedures to be followed will be as defined in the memorandum of understanding.

The following is needed to enrol an Indigenous child, newborn to 15 years of age:

• a completed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018), and
• Section 7 (Referee statement and declaration) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) signed by an authorised referee

Children who attend boarding school or live away from home may need a separate Medicare card. This can be actioned with the following documents:

• a completed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) signed by the child who is aged 15 years and over
• if the child is under 15 years of age, the parent or guardian must sign the enrolment form

To transfer to an existing Medicare card, the applicant must provide:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) signed by applicant/cardholder
• Proof of identity for the applicant, which can include:
• Driver's licence
• Current passport
• Marriage certificate
• Birth certificate
• Birth certificate for Northern Territory (NT) with Aboriginal Population Record (APR)
• Section 7 (Referee statement and declaration) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) signed by an authorised referee

To transfer to a new Medicare card, the applicant must provide:

• A completed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) signed by applicant
• Proof of identity for the applicant, which can include:
• Driver's licence
• Current passport
• Marriage certificate
• Birth certificate
• Birth certificate for Northern Territory (NT) with Aboriginal Population Record (APR)
• Section 2 (Referee statement and declaration) or section 7 (if more than one person transferring to the new card) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) signed by an authorised referee

Note: if attending a service centre, original documents or certified copies for the applicant are needed for this to be actioned.

A completed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) and one of the following documents to prove they are known by that name within the community is needed:

• Current driver's licence
• Birth certificate
• Birth certificate for Northern Territory (NT) with Aboriginal Population Record (APR)
• Marriage certificate
• Deed poll
• Legal document
• Utility accounts
• Section 2 (Referee statement and declaration) or section 7 (if more than one person's details to be changed) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018) signed by an authorised referee

Children in care of a person other than the parent can include being in the care of a:

• family member
• state or territory government department
• foster carer

To enable a child to be included on a Medicare card other than the parents' card, the following is needed:

• a completed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018), and
• one of the following documents to confirm the child is in their care:
• letter from the parent giving permission for the child to be included on the card
• Centrelink documents confirming the third party is receiving benefits for the child. Note: do not accept documents where only the first name of the child is recorded. Centrelink documents must state the child's full name
• document from a state or territory government department to confirm the child is in that person's care

Initial enrolment

Refer to the standard Medicare enrolment application form or the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form (MS018).

Where an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person's status has:

• been supplied, select appropriate indicator in CDMS
• not been supplied, select 'prefer not to answer' in CDMS

Existing enrolment records

The following describes when the status of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person must be updated on existing enrolment records:

• Where the existing record has an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status recorded and the form does not include an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status, do not update the status
• Where the existing record has an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status recorded and the form includes a different Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status, update record with the new status
• Where the existing record has 'Not stated' or 'prefer not to answer' for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status and the form includes an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status update record with the new status

This is a mandatory field. In cases where this detail is not available it is necessary to select or 'prefer not to answer' in the status field.

Where this detail is showing as 'not stated' or 'prefer not to answer', the Service Officer should ask customers if they wish to identify their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status. Service Officers must advise customers that responding to the question is voluntary and their status can be updated at any time.

The Resources page contains a link to the voluntary Indigenous identifier page on the Services Australia website, which contains FAQs and further details.

The Process page contains details of how to amend the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status of a customer.

The voluntary Indigenous identifier is used to identify a person as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. The identifier is specified as a question on all Medicare enrolment forms.

Service Officers must ask customers if they wish to identify their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status when:

• a new customer registers for Medicare services, or
• at any touch point when a customer's Indigenous status has not been recorded

Service Officers must advise customers that:

• responding to the question is voluntary
• for Medicare, recording their status helps the government understand Indigenous health issues
• their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status can be updated at any time

Note: Service Officers should not ask customers to provide proof of their Indigenous status.

The voluntary Indigenous identifier is used to:

• improve service delivery by providing culturally appropriate service
• enable identification of Medicare usage and patterns of servicing
• improve Indigenous access to health services
• monitor and assess effectiveness of Indigenous specific items and Medicare initiatives
• assist in planning and funding to ensure ongoing service improvement

The Resources page contains a link to the voluntary Indigenous identifier page on the agency website, which contains FAQs and further details.

Identifier question

The voluntary Indigenous identifier question is included on all Medicare enrolment forms.

Asking the question is mandatory, however note that responding to the question by the customer is voluntary.

The following checkboxes are available:

• Yes - Aboriginal
• Yes - Torres Strait Islander
• No

Note: for persons of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, both checkboxes are marked 'Yes'.