What we’re doing about COVID-19

Status

COVID-19 is no longer a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance. We now manage it like other common communicable diseases, focusing on:

• prevention
• reducing transmission
• managing serious illness, hospitalisations and death.

Learn more about the COVID-19 pandemic and how Australia managed it between 2020 and 2023.

Vaccination

We fund the National COVID-19 Vaccine Program (NCVP) to provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all people in Australia, including those without a Medicare card.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) assesses all COVID-19 vaccines for safety, quality and efficacy before they can be used in Australia.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) advises us on who should receive COVID-19 vaccines, and how often.

We manage the storage and distribution of vaccines and consumable products nationally.

COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment

COVID-19 oral antivirals, administered as capsules or tablets, are designed to reduce the risk of severe illness in individuals infected with COVID-19. These treatments are typically prescribed to people at higher risk of developing serious complications. 

A prescription from an authorised General Practitioner (GP) or Nurse Practitioner is required to access these medications. Treatment must commence within five days of symptom onset or a positive COVID-19 test result. 

Eligibility for free oral antiviral treatment under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

You may be eligible for free COVID-19 oral antivirals if you test positive and meet one of the following criteria: 

• 70 years of age or older, regardless of symptoms or additional risk factors 
• 50 years of age or older with two or more risk factors for severe disease 
• 30 years of age or older and identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, with one risk factor 
• 18 years of age or older and are moderately to severely immunocompromised or have been previously hospitalised due to COVID-19 and are now re-infected. 

Plan ahead 

Timely initiation of treatment is critical for effectiveness. We encourage early discussions with your GP or Nurse Practitioner to: 

• Determine if oral antivirals are appropriate for your health needs 
• Understand potential side effects 
• Develop a personalised COVID-19 action plan in case you test positive. 
• Develop a COVID-19 plan if you test positive for COVID-19. 

For more information on COVID-19 oral antiviral treatments please visit healthdirect.

Case definition and testing

National guidelines for public health units

The Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) provides public health units with nationally consistent guidance for responding to COVID-19 infection.

Surveillance case definitions

The CDNA provides surveillance case definitions to help health departments decide whether to notify us of a case of COVID-19.

Surveillance and reporting

COVID-19 is a nationally notifiable disease – these are diseases that present a risk to public health.

Health authorities in each state and territory report new cases to us daily through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS).

Our SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance CDNA National Strategy provides a consistent approach to wastewater surveillance.

We report cases through:

• our NNDSS data visualisation tool
• our COVID-19 reporting webpage
• the Australian respiratory surveillance reports.

Our surveillance activities help us to monitor:

• case numbers around the country
• changes in the virus or severity of disease
• outbreaks in high-risk settings
• effectiveness of public health actions.

For more information about our surveillance and reporting activities, see our:

• communicable disease surveillance activities
• Australian National Surveillance Plan for COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV

For historical information on COVID-19 surveillance, see the COVID-19 epidemiology reports

State and territory notification

COVID-19 is a notifiable disease in every state and territory.

Check state and territory reporting requirements for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases or related death:

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia.

Outbreaks

We plan ahead, so that we are ready to manage any major COVID-19 outbreak.

If an outbreak occurs, we follow our action plans, to minimise the impact on the health of Australians and on our health system.

Read more about how we define and plan for outbreaks and pandemics.

Research

We fund research to help us:

• better understand and manage COVID-19
• find new ways to treat the disease
• understand the disease’s longer-term impacts, including long COVID.

Who we work with

We work with state and territory governments to ensure a coordinated national approach to managing COVID-19.

We work with expert groups, including:

• Australian Health Protection Committee (AHPC)
• ATAGI
• CDNA
• Public Health Laboratory Network (PHLN)
• The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC)
• The COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments for Australia – Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group (SITAG).

Legislation

We administer parts of the National Health Security Act 2007 and Biosecurity Act 2015.

Learn about all legislation we administer.