AIR Update – 17 June 2025

Gender option Gender X added

Medicare and related programs now consistently capture ‘gender’ rather than ‘sex’. A third gender option Gender X, as well as title Mx, are now available to accommodate the recording of non-binary status to the AIR. 

These changes align Medicare and their practices with the Australian Government Gender Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender and the Australian Bureau of Statistics Standards for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables.

Individuals can update their gender with Medicare via myGov (online or via the app), in person or over the phone with Services Australia. No documents are required. The gender recorded in Medicare will be synchronised with AIR overnight.

Vaccination providers can indicate the gender of an individual via the AIR site or practice software when creating or updating a record. This does not change the gender recorded on the individual’s Medicare registration. In these circumstances, individuals enrolled to Medicare should also update their gender preference with Medicare directly.

Software vendors have been advised of this change and vaccination providers should contact their software provider for further information.
 

Generic COVID-19 vaccine option added

Vaccination providers can now select a Generic COVID-19 vaccine to the AIR. This is only available to report for COVID-19 vaccines administered overseas, where the vaccine brand is not available to report to the AIR. 

Disclaimer: This information has been collated by staff members of the PHN Immunisation Support Program – an initiative of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. Care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation; however, users are responsible for checking the currency of this information. Once printed, this document is no longer quality-controlled. Content is considered correct as at 23 June 2025.
 

View additional AIR tips and updates here