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Refugee Health Assessment — Eligibility & Template
Check eligibility by visa subclass and the 12-month window, see the four time tiers, then fill the assessment in your browser and copy a completed note straight into Best Practice or Medical Director. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
⚠ Read before using. This tool checks eligibility for the MBS refugee health assessment items. It does not recommend which time-tier item to claim — the chosen item must reflect the actual time of your personal attendance with the patient. Items 701/703/705/707 (or 224–227) are time-tiered, not condition-tiered. Documentation must show the time spent. Claiming a longer item than the actual consult duration is incorrect and may attract post-payment audit. Once-per-patient lifetime claim.
Eligibility check
Eligibility = a relevant humanitarian/refugee visa held for less than 12 months or first entry to Australia less than 12 months ago. The patient must also have Medicare eligibility, and may only claim this assessment once.
The four time tiers (reference only)
Choose the item that reflects your actual time of personal attendance. The tool does not pick this for you. Time required to communicate effectively with the patient — including interpreter use — is counted in the total. Document the time and the use of interpreter (with TIS job number if applicable).
Time
GP item
Fee
PMP item
Fee
Up to 30 min
701
$71.00
224
$55.40
>30 to <45 min
703
$165.05
225
$128.70
≥45 to <60 min
705
$227.75
226
$177.55
≥60 min
707
$321.75
227
$250.90
GP = general practitioner; PMP = prescribed medical practitioner (see MBS Note AN.7.1). Schedule fees updated 1 July 2025 per MBS Online — confirm current values before claiming.
Documentation requirements (legal)
Per Clause 2.15.9 of the Regulations and Clause 4.3 of the Health Insurance Act 1973, the assessment must include personal attendance and the items below, and the record must be retained for at least 2 years.
Personal attendance by GP or prescribed medical practitioner
History taken
Examination performed
Investigations performed or arranged
Assessment of health and physical, psychological and social function
Management plan addressing health-care needs and problems
Interventions and referrals as necessary
Written report offered to the patient (record whether offered and accepted/declined)
Time of personal attendance documented
Screening framework — defer to ASID + state guidance for specifics
The list below is a general scaffold drawn from ASID's published recommendations. Country-of-origin epidemiology drives the actual choice of tests — refer to the ASID document and your state refugee health service for individualised screening. This page does not give country-by-country recommendations.
Universal considerations: FBE, ferritin, B12/folate, vitamin D, UEC, LFT, BSL/HbA1c if indicated; HIV, hepatitis B (sAg, sAb, cAb), hepatitis C; syphilis serology; immunisation history review & catch-up; mental health and trauma screen (sensitive); dental review; cervical screening if indicated; STI screening on history; vision and hearing if indicated.
Region-specific (examples — verify with ASID): strongyloides serology (most regions); schistosoma serology (sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Middle East/Asia); malaria film/RDT if symptomatic or recent migration from endemic area; TB screening (TST or IGRA — e.g. QuantiFERON) per state policy; stool ova/cysts/parasites if symptomatic.
Children: growth and development assessment; lead level for children from at-risk contexts; immunisation catch-up; iron studies.
Women: sensitive screening for FGC if culturally relevant; reproductive and contraception history.
Interpreter — TIS National
Free of charge for medical practitioners providing Medicare-rebatable services. Document the use and TIS job number. Avoid family members (especially children) as interpreters for sensitive discussions.
TIS National doctors' priority line:1300 131 450 Online booking:tisnational.gov.au
Document interpreter use and TIS job number in the patient record — this also supports a longer time-tier claim where applicable.
📚 For broader CALD considerations beyond refugees — visa-class Medicare eligibility, cultural & religious considerations in practice, translated patient resources — see the multicultural patients clinician hub.
Fill the assessment — then copy to Best Practice / Medical Director
Complete the fields below during or after the consult. The eligibility details you entered above flow in automatically. When you're done, hit Copy completed note and paste straight into your progress notes.
🔒 Everything you type stays in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, logged, or saved — refreshing or closing this page clears it all. On a shared computer, clear the page (Reset) when you're done.
Practitioner, time & patient
Enter minutes to see the corresponding item per the MBS time tiers.
Interpreter
History
Examination
Investigations performed or arranged
Per ASID + state guidance — choice individualised by you. Note what you ordered against each line.
Assessment, management & referrals
Report & follow-up (required elements)
The note assembles only what you entered. You remain fully responsible for the clinical content, the choice of MBS item to claim (which must reflect your actual attendance time), and the accuracy of every entry. The tool maps the minutes you enter to the matching item per the published time tiers — it does not verify or determine your actual time.
Educational reference only. Confirm current MBS eligibility, item descriptors and fees at mbsonline.gov.au and verify clinical screening choices with the ASID recommendations and your state refugee health service. The eligibility checker uses calendar-month arithmetic; the MBS interpretation in any individual case rests with Services Australia and the practitioner. The tool does not pick the time-tier; you choose based on actual personal attendance time. The page does not provide medical advice.