Medicare card

When a child is placed in care for the first time your CSO is required to obtain the child’s Medicare card details from the parents and provide the information to you. When a child protection order giving custody or guardianship to Child Safety is made, Child Safety will apply for a Medicare card in the child’s name and provide this to you. It will take several weeks for the application to be processed. If the child leaves your care, the card should be returned to Child Safety so they can pass it on.

Use the Medicare card or card number for the child when:

• attending an appointment with a doctor who bulk bills
• receiving a Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) prescription at a pharmacy
• receiving treatment as a public patient in a public hospital.

When filling out a Medicare form, make sure your details, not the child’s name, are included in the claimant section.

If you don’t have Medicare card details

If the child has just come into your care and the parent is unable or unwilling to provide the Medicare details, a doctor or pharmacist is able to directly request enrolment details from Medicare. You may be asked to provide details of the child and mother to assist in this request for the child’s Medicare card number.

In circumstances where a child is not enrolled with Medicare and does not have a Medicare card number, bulk billing by medical practitioners and subsidised medication from pharmacies is not available. Full fees or charges will have to be paid. Medicare will reimburse the rebate when the child has been issued with a Medicare card. In this circumstance, it is important that you keep all receipts (both medical and pharmaceutical), and obtain the rebate once the Medicare number is issued.

Find more information about the Medicare card on the Australian Government's Services Australia website.