MyMedicare registration is voluntary, but patients must meet eligibility criteria including recent face-to-face services.
In some circumstances, patients may not meet these requirements due to extenuating or unforeseen circumstances which have limited their ability to access care.
In these cases, an exemption may be applied by the practice when registering the patient.
What to do first:
- confirm whether the patient meets standard eligibility requirements
- where requirements are not met, consider whether extenuating or unforeseen circumstances may apply
- select the appropriate category on the MyMedicare Registration Form and reflect this in Health Professional Online Services (HPOS)
What practices need to know:
- exemptions support patients who have faced barriers to accessing face-to-face services, such as health, geographic or situational factors
- the updated registration form and system now include a dedicated tick box for extenuating or unforeseen circumstances, aligned with the program guidelines
- other eligibility exemption circumstances (for example, homelessness, family and domestic violence, or following a usual GP) are captured as separate exemption categories
- these changes improve clarity for using eligibility exemptions for patient registration across practices
A fact sheet has been developed and can be found on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s website.
Access MyMedicare resources:
General practices can access the following Australian Government resources:
This article appeared in Practice Pulse on Wednesday, 15 July 2026. If you are a GP, practice nurse or practice manager in South Western Sydney and do not get the weekly Practice Pulse email, speak to your Practice Support Officer.
