About communicable diseases
Learn what a communicable disease is, how they are classified and spread, and how some can be prevented.
Communicable diseases in Australia
Find out about diseases of concern in Australia, and frameworks and laws around managing diseases.
What we do
Discover our role in preventing, monitoring and managing communicable diseases in Australia.
Who we work with
Several key committees and networks help us with our work on communicable diseases.
Nationally notifiable diseases
Health authorities report over 70 communicable diseases to us so we can track what is happening nationwide and respond to any outbreaks.
Our National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System tracks these diseases.
Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal
This scientific journal publishes information about communicable diseases in Australia:
- how often and where diseases occur
- how many cases we have
- methods to prevent diseases
- methods to control outbreaks.
Series of National Guidelines (SoNGs)
These guidelines give nationally consistent advice to public health units about how to respond to notifiable diseases.
The Communicable Diseases Network Australia produces these SoNGs.
Case definitions
We support networks to develop case definitions for health professionals to use when diagnosing notifiable diseases. See our collections of:
- surveillance case definition documents, from the Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA)
- laboratory case definition documents, from the Public Health Laboratory Network (PHLN).
Related work
Related work
Resources
Resources
National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) fortnightly reports – 10th November 2025 to 23rd November 2025
Guidance for managing departing and returning aid workers
Changing Places – The Commonwealth Accessible Australia Initiative
