Process for Online Consultation and Medical Certificate

Dociva provides a simple online pathway for appropriate non-emergency healthcare requests, including medical certificate requests and online consultations where available.

All clinical requests are reviewed by an Australian-registered medical practitioner. A certificate, prescription, referral, treatment recommendation or other clinical outcome is not guaranteed and is only provided where the doctor considers it clinically appropriate.

If you have chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, signs of a stroke, heavy bleeding, collapse, seizure, sudden swelling of the lips, mouth, throat or tongue, thoughts of self-harm, or any symptom that feels serious or life-threatening, call 000 immediately or attend the nearest emergency department.

How to Apply for an Online Medical Certificate

The process to apply for an online medical certificate is straightforward:

1. Start your application: Go to the medical certificate application page.
2. Select your application type: Choose between options such as sick leave, carer's leave, study-related absence or another available certificate type.
3. Complete the online questionnaire: Provide accurate information about your symptoms, circumstances, requested dates and contact details.
4. Doctor review: Your request will be reviewed by the next available Australian-registered medical practitioner.
5. Further assessment if required: For any Dociva service, the doctor may require phone or video contact before making a decision if they consider it clinically necessary.
6. Outcome: If approved, your medical certificate will be sent to the email address provided in your application.

Submitting an application does not guarantee that a medical certificate will be issued. A certificate is only issued if the reviewing doctor considers it clinically appropriate after assessing the information provided and completing any further assessment they require.

Dociva does not provide backdated medical certificates. A certificate can only be considered from the date of the clinical assessment and cannot be issued for a date before the assessment took place.

Medical Certificates

How to Apply for an Online Consultation

Online consultations, where available, may be suitable for certain non-emergency healthcare concerns. They are not suitable for every symptom, condition or circumstance.

Applying for an online consultation may involve the following steps:

1. Visit our online consultation page: Start your consultation request here.
2. Provide your health information: Complete the required questions about your symptoms, medical history, current medicines, allergies and reason for the request.
3. Practitioner review: An Australian-registered medical practitioner will review your information and decide whether the request can be safely assessed online.
4. Phone or video contact if required: The doctor may require phone or video contact before making a decision if they consider it clinically necessary.
5. Clinical outcome: The doctor may provide advice, request more information, issue an appropriate clinical document where suitable, or recommend in-person or urgent care.

An online consultation does not guarantee that a medical certificate, prescription, referral, diagnosis, treatment plan or other clinical outcome will be provided.

If your request cannot be safely assessed online, the doctor may decline the request and recommend that you seek in-person care, urgent care or review by your regular GP.

Book Online Consultation

Applications are usually reviewed within 24 hours, depending on practitioner availability, application volume and whether further assessment is required. To understand the full details about how long it takes to process a medical certificate, including factors that may affect the time frame, please click here for more information.