NDSS Registration — GP Reference
📋 Source: National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) — ndss.com.au (administered by Diabetes Australia).
Your doctor or healthcare provider knows your history and circumstances — always follow their personalised advice over general information.
Registering patients with the National Diabetes Services Scheme: who can sign, the test-strip access rule, CGM eligibility groups, and how to bill.
In one line
Registration is free, once-only, and signed by you (or another authorised health professional) within an ordinary consultation. There is no specific MBS item for NDSS registration — bill the attendance item for the consult in which you do it.
Who can register a patient
Authorised health professionals who can confirm the diagnosis and complete/sign the NDSS registration form include a medical practitioner, credentialled diabetes educator, nurse practitioner, and (for confirming diagnosis) a registered nurse working in diabetes care. The patient cannot self-register without this confirmation.
Patient requirements: diagnosed with any type of diabetes (or another condition requiring regular blood glucose monitoring); lives in Australia (or is an eligible RHCA visitor on an applicable visa); and holds or is eligible to hold a Medicare or DVA card.
Once-only and portable. Registration does not expire and follows the patient if they move or change pharmacy. Forms are submitted to Diabetes Australia; access points are community pharmacies.
Billing
There is no MBS item for NDSS registration. It is completed as part of usual diabetes care, so bill the relevant attendance item for that consultation (for example a standard or long consult, or as part of a chronic condition management visit). Do not attempt to claim a separate item for the registration itself.
What is subsidised (and what is not)
Blood glucose test strips. For people with type 2 diabetes who are not using insulin, subsidised strip access is restricted: an initial six-month supply, after which continued access requires the patient to meet specific clinical criteria. Patients on insulin, with type 1 diabetes, who are pregnant, or other defined groups are not subject to the same restriction.
Pen needles, syringes and ketone (urine) strips are subsidised for those who need them. No prescription is required to collect NDSS products.
Insulin and diabetes medicines are NOT supplied via the NDSS — they are subsidised under the PBS. The NDSS covers self-management consumables only.
Continuous and flash glucose monitoring (CGM/Flash)
NDSS-subsidised CGM/Flash is for type 1 diabetes, not type 2. All people with type 1 diabetes (all ages) can apply. Defined groups receive it fully subsidised — for example children and young people under 21, and women with type 1 diabetes who are actively planning pregnancy, pregnant or immediately post-pregnancy — while others access with a co-payment. Some under-21s with rare insulin-requiring conditions very similar to type 1 diabetes are also eligible. The patient must be NDSS-registered.
GPs generally do not certify CGM access. Certification must be by an authorised diabetes health professional — an endocrinologist, credentialled diabetes educator, or a diabetes-specialist physician, paediatrician or nurse practitioner — using the CGM Access form or the NDSS Health Professional Portal. The GP role here is NDSS registration and referral on.
CGM devices not on the NDSS list: A device that is not on the NDSS list is not subsidised through the NDSS. Approved uses, availability and prices vary by product and supplier — check the supplier and the TGA register (ARTG). See the NDSS
device summary for the current list. Full detail:
CGM Subsidy Eligibility Navigator and
CGM in Primary Care.
Sources & clinical disclaimer
- National Diabetes Services Scheme — About the NDSS, products, registration and CGM. ndss.com.au.
- Diabetes Australia — NDSS (administering organisation). diabetesaustralia.com.au.
- Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing — NDSS. health.gov.au.
This is a clinical-administration reference, not clinical advice. Test-strip rules and CGM eligibility change — verify current criteria at ndss.com.au before acting. Current as at June 2026.