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Read the relevant item descriptions, fact sheets and explanatory notes on the MBS Online website.
When you can bill attendance items
When you immunise your patient, you may be able to bill a Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) attendance item. You can only do this if other funding doesn’t cover the cost of giving it.
If you address an unrelated medical issue at the same time you give a mass immunisation vaccine, you can bill for this. You can only bill for the time you spend managing the unrelated medical condition.
If a mass immunisation program doesn’t cover the vaccine you’re giving, you can bill for both:
- time spent giving the vaccine
- managing the unrelated medical condition.
MBS items only cover medical services. This means you can’t bill Medicare for the vaccine itself.
Learn more about Medicare benefits and vaccinations on explanatory note GN.12.32 on the MBS Online website.
From 1 July 2025, you need to bill the relevant MBS attendance item to provide a COVID-19 vaccine support service.
About mass immunisation programs
Funded mass immunisation programs cover the costs of giving vaccines. They can be funded by any of the following:
- the Australian Government
- a state government
- a private organisation.
There are no Medicare benefits for giving vaccines covered by these programs.
Billing scenarios
There are common scenarios when billing for immunisations.
You see a patient to give them an influenza vaccine. The NIP doesn’t cover them for the influenza vaccine.
After taking your patient’s history, you give them the vaccine.
You can bill an MBS attendance item for the time you spend on both your patient history and giving the vaccine.
You can charge your patient for the cost of the influenza vaccine. You can’t bill Medicare for the vaccine itself.
You see a patient to give them an influenza vaccine. The NIP covers the cost of the vaccine but not the administration cost.
After taking your patient’s history, you give them the vaccine.
You can bill the appropriate attendance item for the medical service you provided. You can’t charge the patient a separate amount for the cost of the influenza vaccine.
You’re employed by a state or territory community health centre to administer vaccines. The service is not eligible for Medicare benefits as it’s a mass immunisation program.
You can’t bill an MBS item. You’re giving a vaccine under an arrangement with the state or territory.
You see a patient to give them an influenza vaccine. Your patient’s employer is covering the cost of the vaccine and the administration.
You can’t bill an MBS item. We can’t pay Medicare benefits if the employer of the patient pays for the medical expense.