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Request a routine work, study, or carer's leave certificate from home. Fill a secure form, an Australian doctor reviews it, and the certificate is issued only if clinically appropriate.
Practical answer
No video. No call. No appointment. Prices start at $24.95 for a 1-day request. You do not need Medicare for this private certificate pathway. The boundary is simple: it suits short, non-urgent absence evidence, not emergencies, complex legal documents, or long-term capacity reports.
Full refund if the doctor declines. Employer and institution policies may vary.
Cost
From $24.95
$24.95 for 1 day, $29.95 for 2 days, $39.95 for 3 days.
Timing
Form first
The secure form takes about 3 minutes. A doctor reviews the request before any certificate is issued.
Boundary
Routine only
Short sick, carer, or study absence. Urgent symptoms and high-stakes documents need another pathway.
The form is short because the use case is narrow. The doctor still has to decide whether the request is clinically reasonable.
Choose work, study, or carer leave and tell the doctor what happened, when symptoms started, and which dates you are asking to cover.
The form checks for symptoms that should not wait for a routine online certificate, such as chest pain, severe breathing trouble, dehydration, severe pain, or mental health crisis.
An AHPRA-registered Australian doctor reviews the information. They can approve, decline, or ask for more detail if the story is unclear.
If approved, the certificate is delivered as a secure PDF with verification details. If declined, the request is refunded.
The useful question is not whether a certificate is online. It is whether the doctor can responsibly assess the absence without a physical examination or a different legal form.
For ordinary sick or carer's leave, the evidence needs to support that you were entitled to the leave. A telehealth certificate can do that when the doctor has enough information and the request is suitable.
Routine certificates focus on whether you were unable to attend work or study duties, the dates covered, and doctor-issued verification details.
Your employer usually does not need your private diagnosis for ordinary personal leave evidence. Employer policies may vary.
InstantMed supports routine 1-day, 2-day, and 3-day certificate requests. Longer absences usually need continuity from a GP.
Fair Work lists medical certificates and statutory declarations as examples of evidence. It does not say that ordinary sick leave evidence must come from an in-person appointment. Your employer can still apply its own lawful evidence policy, so the safe copy is: doctor-issued, clinically assessed, and employer policies may vary.
A certificate can wait. Chest pain, severe dehydration, pregnancy red flags, severe pain, or mental health crisis should not.
Call 000 for emergencies. If you are unsure whether something is urgent, choose urgent care first and sort the certificate later.
Medical certificates are private documentation requests. They are different from prescription or consultation pathways.
The request fee is $24.95, $29.95, or $39.95 depending on the requested duration.
Medicare is optional for this private certificate pathway. Prescription and consult pathways have different identity requirements.
If the doctor declines the request, the request is refunded. A decline is a clinical safety outcome, not a service failure.
These figures summarize the scope, safety boundary, and evidence pathway. The same details are rendered in HTML below each image.
Scope map
Work, study, and carer's leave can fit online review when symptoms are non-urgent and the requested period is short.
Care route
Chest pain, severe breathing trouble, dehydration, severe pain, neurological symptoms, pregnancy red flags, or crisis symptoms need urgent or in-person care.
Evidence details
Routine certificates usually need patient details, date, absence period, clinician details, and verification, not a private diagnosis.
The request has three honest outcomes. The fastest one is not always the safest one.
The doctor decides the request is clinically appropriate and issues the PDF certificate for the dates they can support.
The doctor asks for clarification if the timing, symptoms, identity details, or requested certificate type is unclear.
The request is outside scope, unsafe, or needs in-person care. The request is refunded and you are directed to the safer option.
If your need is not a routine short certificate, one of these routes may fit better.
The main service page for starting a short medical certificate request.
Common respiratory symptoms that can affect work or study attendance.
Vomiting and diarrhoea can require short absence evidence, especially in food-handling roles.
A common reason for short work absence when movement or duties are affected.
Crisis boundaries, GP pathways, privacy, and short certificate review for mental health absences.
Chest pain is not a routine certificate request. Check urgent-care boundaries first.
For existing regular medicines, use the repeat prescription review pathway.
This page is written for Australian patients and cites public Australian authorities where possible.
Explains evidence for paid sick and carer's leave, including medical certificates and the reasonable-person standard.
Australian workplace leave context, notice, and evidence requirements.
Guidance on the standard expected of doctors when care is delivered by telehealth.
National regulator information about professional obligations in virtual care.
Australian GP discussion of medical certificates and why certificate wording matters.
Shows why Centrelink medical certificates are a different functional-capacity document, not a routine short sick-leave certificate.
Australian urgent-care advice for chest pain and symptoms that require emergency help.
Australian patient information on vomiting, dehydration, and when to seek urgent medical attention.
Australian crisis and helpline information for suicidal thoughts or mental health crisis.
Static answers, also included in FAQPage structured data.
Complete the secure form. A doctor reviews and decides whether a certificate is clinically appropriate. No guaranteed issue, no guaranteed employer outcome.
Full refund if the doctor declines.
Medical certificate - Doctor-reviewed · Requests submit 24/7