Authorised representatives

An authorised representative is responsible for managing the My Health Record of their dependant.

A dependant is someone who is:

younger than 14 or
14 years or older who lacks capacity to make decisions for themselves.

An authorised representative may be someone with parental responsibility, a carer, family member, legal guardian or someone with enduring power of attorney.

Note: A person with parental responsibility cannot be an authorised representative if, under a court order of Commonwealth, state or territory law, they must be supervised while spending time with the dependant or if the life, health or safety of the dependant or another person would be at risk.

An authorised representative does not need their own My Health Record. A dependant can have more than one authorised representative.

There is also information for teenagers.

Become an authorised representative

You can be appointed as an authorised representative based on:

your authority to act on behalf of your dependant
your relationship to your dependant, and
their age.

When you become your dependant’s authorised representative, you also register your dependant for a My Health Record if they don’t already have one.

Newborns

You can register your newborn for a My Health Record and become their authorised representative:

by completing the relevant My Health Record questions on the Newborn Child Declaration form. This form is contained in the newborn pack you are given when your child is born or
when you enrol your newborn in Medicare.

To access your newborn’s record for the first time, refer to How to access or create a child’s record.

For assistance, call the My Health Record Help line on 1800 723 471.

Children under 14 years

You can be an authorised representative for a child until they turn 14.

If your child is on the same Medicare card as you, you can create and/or access their My Health Record online. When you create or access their record online, you automatically become their authorised representative.

If your child is on a different Medicare card to you OR you are not enrolled in Medicare, you must complete the Apply to be your dependant’s authorised representative and register them for a My Health Record form (PDF, 848.18 KB). When you apply, you must provide evidence of your relationship with the child. If your child doesn’t already have a My Health Record, we will create one for them. We’ll let you know when we’ve processed your application and will send you a code. Use this code to access your child’s record online as their authorised representative.

For assistance, call the My Health Record Help line on 1800 723 471.

Online learning module

We have an online learning module to help you understand more about authorised representatives for children under 14 years of age in My Health Record.

Access the online learning module

Persons 14 and older

You can be an authorised representative for a person 14 years or older if you can show that:

the person lacks the capacity to make their own decisions and
you have authority to act on their behalf.

To apply to be an authorised representative for a person 14 years or older, complete the Apply to be your dependant’s authorised representative and register them for a My Health Record form (PDF, 848.18 KB). When you apply, you must provide evidence of your relationship with the dependant and that they are not capable of making decisions for themselves. If your dependant doesn’t already have a My Health Record, we will create one for them. We’ll let you know when we’ve processed your application and will send you a code. Use this code to access your dependant’s record online as their authorised representative.

Note: Individuals 14 years or older who have capacity to make decisions for themselves are responsible for their own My Health Record. There is information for teenagers.

For assistance, call the My Health Record Help line on 1800 723 471.

Online learning module

We have an online learning module to help you understand more about authorised representatives for individuals aged 14 years and over in My Health Record.

Access the online learning module

What authorised representatives can do

Authorised representatives:

have complete access and control of their dependant’s My Health Record
must act in accordance with the will and preferences, or likely will and preferences, of their dependant.

Find out how to manage your dependant’s My Health Record.

When authorised representative status ends

Your authorised representative status ends when:

in the case of a child’s My Health Record, when the child turns 14
when you no longer have legal authority or parental responsibility for the dependant as a result of, for example, court action
you have reached the end date of your legal authority
your dependant can prove they have the capacity to manage their own record and requests your removal
you remove yourself as your dependant’s authorised representative.

When your authorised representative’s status ends, you can no longer access your dependant’s record.

Child turns 14

Authorised representatives are automatically removed from a child’s record when the child turns 14.

If they choose to, a child 14 years or older can give you access to their record as a nominated representative. There is more information for teenagers.

If the child lacks capacity to make decisions for themselves, you need to apply to be their authorised representative again (see "Persons 14 and older" above).

Dependant regains capacity and requests removal

If a dependant who is 14 years or older can prove they have regained capacity to manage their own record, all authorised representatives will be removed from their record.

If you are 14 years or older and have an authorised representative but want to manage your own record, you need a letter from a medical practitioner or psychologist declaring you have the capacity to manage your own record.

When you have these documents, call the My Health Record help line on 1800 723 471.

Remove yourself as an authorised representative

If you no longer wish to be an authorised representative, you can remove yourself from your dependant’s record. However before doing this, you should consider the impact this may have on your dependant, especially if they lack capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Note: An authorised representative cannot remove another authorised representative from a dependant’s record.

To remove yourself as an authorised representative:

Sign in to your myGov account: Sign in to myGov
Select My Health Record from your list of ‘Linked services’
From your My Health Record welcome page, select the record you want to access and remove yourself from.
Select Privacy and Access.
Select My Representatives.
Find your name on the list of people that have access to the person’s My Health Record.
Select Manage Access near your name.
Select Remove Access.
Select Confirm.

For assistance, call the My Health Record Help line on 1800 723 471.