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Laboratory notifiable diseases
The Public Health Act requires that certain medical conditions be notified to the Director of Public Health (DPH). This includes diseases and conditions which should be notified to the Communicable Disease Prevention Unit (CDPU) by laboratories.
Laboratories are required to notify a positive result for the specified infectious diseases and conditions. Notification allows for public health action to manage these conditions and to control the spread of diseases.
Further changes to the Guidelines for Notifying Diseases and Food Contaminants will come into effect on 1 June 2024.
View the current list of all laboratory notifiable diseases.
The Guidelines for Notifying Diseases and Food Contaminants have requirements for the reports that are issued for notifiable diseases.
These include clear specifications around the content of information detailed on the notification report. Notification reports are to:
- Provide the contact information for the medical practitioner who requested the initial test.
- Contain information about the laboratory who conducted the test if this has not been previously notified to the DPH.
- Contain specific details in relation to the disease report
- authorisation date of the laboratory report
- the date the specimen was collected and
- the method of diagnosis.
The Guidelines for Notifying Diseases and Food Contaminants can be found on our Public Health Act and associated guidelines page.
The repeal of The HIV/AIDS Preventive Measures Act 1993 (HIV Act) meant that the separate confidentiality framework around the collection, recording, storing and security of information in respect of HIV tests and related medical assessments was no longer required. HIV information is be treated with the same degree of security and confidentiality as all other health information relating to a person.