The Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 requires that prescribed conditions are notified to the Department of Health and Human Services by persons in charge of pathology services (laboratories) and medical practitioners (doctors). The law exists to monitor and control the occurrence of infectious diseases and other specified conditions, and helps to prevent further illness. The aim is to protect the health and safety of the community.
Click the 'Online' or 'Form' link in the Notify now column of the table below to notify the relevant condition. Additional information, fact sheets and forms are available in the Downloads section of this page. Click the link in the BHC info column for patient information about the notifiable condition. The information is provided from the Better Health Channel.
The online notification forms are hosted by the Commonwealth Government's Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. The online forms allow you to save partially completed forms. The information you provide in these forms is protected and only visible by authorised staff within the department.
Important: conditions marked 'urgent' require immediate notification to the department by telephone on 1300 651160 (24/7) upon initial diagnosis or clinical suspicion (presumptive or confirmed).
Notifiable conditions
The table below outlines which infectious diseases and other conditions are notifiable in Victoria, who is required to notify, and the timeframe they are required to notify in. Click on the 'Notifiable condition' name for control guidelines, 'Online' to notify through the web form, 'Form' to download and print a form to return by fax or post, and 'Info' for patient information from the Better Health Channel.
Condition groups
Notifiable conditions are grouped as 'Urgent' or 'Routine' according to when and how they should be notified:
Conditions marked 'Urgent' require immediate notification to the department by telephone on 1300 651 160 (24 hours) upon initial diagnosis or clinical suspicion (presumptive or confirmed).
Conditions marked 'Routine' require written notification within 5 days of diagnosis (presumptive or confirmed).
Conditions marked 'Routine*' include the sexually transmissible diseases. To preclude identification of the patient, only the first two letters of the first and last names of the patient are required. These conditions require written notification within 5 days of the initial diagnosis.
For conditions where notification is required by laboratories, but is not mandated for notification by medical practitioners, medical practitioners may notify voluntarily using the 'Online' or 'Form' links provided in the above table.
Notification of urgent and emerging public health concerns is permitted under the general authority provided by section 55 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008. The authority allows medical practitioners and pathology services to provide the department with any case information that relates to an urgent or serious potential public health risk. Within this authority, medical practitioners are able highlight at risk cases, or cases with an importance to public health that are only required to be notified by laboratories, such as those with high risk occupations. Examples include a cluster of severe respiratory disease, a cluster of severe unexplained illness or illness from suspected exposure to a serious hazard.
The authority provides an additional line of communication and much needed link between medical practitioners, as the day-to-day ‘eyes and ears’ of the Victorian health system, and the department. The authority may also be utilised for emerging diseases (identified by the Chief Health Officer or nationally) and increases the sensitivity of the Victorian surveillance system in an era of increasing emerging infections.
How to notify
Note: Urgent conditions must be notified immediately (24/7) by telephone to 1300 651 160.
Notify all other conditions using one of the following methods:
- Fax to 1300 651 170
- Post to Department of Health and Human Services, Reply Paid 65937, Melbourne VIC 8060
- Online (via this page).
Standard notification forms are available for all condition conditions and contain the minimum mandatory information required. Using the standard form, you can notify securely online, or download a form from the links above and return the form by post or fax.
Enhanced notification forms are available for some diseases, via the links in the above table. Enhanced notification forms collect the same mandatory information as the standard form, as well as additional epidemiological data about the case and/or potential public health risks.
Do not email notifications.