Change of gender for Medicare enrolments 011-44110020

If the request was received:

• in PaNDA, go to Step 2
• by phone or in a service centre, go to Step 3

Requests received in PaNDA require Service Officers to make an outbound call attempt to authenticate the customer and confirm their request.

Was the customer contact successful?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, leave comments in PaNDA and CDMS. Procedure ends here

Was authentication successful? See Authenticating a Medicare customer.

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the customer is unauthenticated and must:
• call back with more details, or
• attend a service centre with an approved photographic identity document. Procedure ends here

On the CDMS Home page:

• Select Amend on consumer details
• Key the Medicare card number in the ID Number field or do a Detailed Search
• Select Personal

In Consumers, select the radio button against the customer to be changed.

In Personal Details:

• Gender field: update the gender details
• Gender Change Reason field: select the reason for the change

Make any other updates in the remaining fields in CDMS, as required. For example, their title.

If the customer requires a change of name, see Change legal name on Medicare record.

• Scroll down and select Validate
• Action any warning messages and Validate

Are the details on the screen correct?

• Yes, select Update. Updated details will show on the Amend Personal Details screen. Procedure ends here
• No, select Change to change details, go to Step 5

Advise the customer the gender update has been completed.

Ask the customer:

• “This is optional however, would you like an indicator on your record to notate your pronouns?”

Note: it is the customer’s choice whether they have an indicator on their record. Service Officers must refrain from using the term ‘Sensitive Information Indicator’.

If the customer agrees to have an indicator, complete the Sensitive Information tab:

• Category: Identity
• Indicator: Gender Identity
• Details: Customer has changed their gender information
• Notification channel: Record how the information was received
• Comment: Record pronouns and preferred name. Include if the customer still uses the legal name on their record. This will help Service Officers recognise that the customer has updated their gender identity and kept their legal name:
• For example:
  Still uses name John Citizen. They/them
  Preferred name Sam Citizen. She/her
• Text added to this field:
  is limited to 80 characters
  appears in the Sensitive Information pop up table
  can be released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request
• End Date and End Date Reason are optional fields and can be left blank

If the request was received:

• in PaNDA, go to Step 2
• by phone or in a service centre, go to Step 3

Requests received in PaNDA require Service Officers to make an outbound call attempt to authenticate the customer and confirm their request.

Was the customer contact successful?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, leave comments in PaNDA and CDMS. Procedure ends here

See Authenticating a Medicare customer.

A request to update the gender of the child must be:

• a parent or guardian associated to the Medicare card, or
• the Group contact of the Medicare card

Was authentication successful?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, the customer is unauthenticated and must:
• call back with more details, or
• attend a service centre with an approved photographic identity document. Procedure ends here

If the parent/guardian requests to:

• Correct the gender of a child that was incorrectly recorded when the child was enrolled, go to Step 5
• Amend the gender of a child because of a change of gender, or personal preference, go to Step 9

Where a Service Officer or customer identifies that the gender was incorrectly recorded at the time of enrolment, and this is confirmed by:

• previous enrolment forms and the supporting documents
• proof of birth provided with newborn enrolments lodged through digital channels, or
• sighting a birth certificate or hospital record

Go to Step 6.

On the CDMS Home page:

• Select Amend on consumer details
• Key the Medicare card number in the ID Number field or do a Detailed Search
• Select Personal

In Consumers, select the radio button against the customer to be changed.

In Personal Details:

• Gender field: update the gender details
• Gender Change Reason field: select Processing Error

Go to Step 8.

• Make any other updates in the remaining fields in CDMS, as required. For example, their title
• Record comments in the Personal tab in CDMS
  Indicate gender was corrected as per birth certificate and record the document reference text/document number. For example, Gender corrected to female as per Birth certificate, reference number XXXXXX/2014
• Scroll down and select Validate
• Action any warning messages and Validate

Are the details on the screen correct?

• Yes, select Update. Updated details will show on the Amend Personal Details screen. Procedure ends here
• No, select Change to change details, go to Step 7

Requests to update gender may include a request to update a customer’s name.

A child under the age of 15 must be known by their legal name at Group and Personal. The exception is where the child is undergoing a change of gender, and a preferred name may be recorded in Group under some circumstances.

For change of gender requests (including change of gender related requests for a preferred name) for children under the age of 15 undergoing change of gender, escalate the request by:

• email to Medicare Consumers Program Support. Include the following details:
• Name and Medicare card number of the parent/carer
• Name of the child
• Details of the request
• escalating the PaNDA item, see Escalation process for Medicare eligibility