How we monitor notifiable diseases
Our Office of Health Protection and Response collects data on and coordinates responses to many communicable disease outbreaks.
National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System
We collect data on nationally notifiable diseases in the community through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). This system includes data on more than 70 diseases.
States and territories report new cases of notifiable diseases to us daily. This helps us monitor communicable disease activity around the country.
State and territory health departments collect this information under their public health laws. They then remove patient information and send us data about their cases.
Reporting to the NNDSS depends on the cooperation of states and territories. They are not legally required to do so.
Data analysis
Our epidemiologists analyse information received about new cases of communicable diseases and we publish reports fortnightly.
Reporting and publication
We publish information about communicable diseases on our website and in our journal, Communicable Diseases Intelligence (CDI).
NNDSS reports
We publish NNDSS reports in our collections of:
- fortnightly reports
- public datasets (influenza, meningococcal disease, pneumococcal disease and salmonellosis)
- annual reports.
Other reports
We also regularly publish:
Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal
CDI is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by our Office of Health Protection and Response.
The journal provides information on the epidemiology, surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases of relevance to Australia.
Other monitoring systems
Other entities monitor some diseases nationally.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is monitored via the National HIV Registry (at the Kirby Institute).
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD, sometimes called mad cow disease) and variant CJD is monitored via the Australian National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Registry (at the Florey Institute).
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