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I’ve just downloaded my new, internationally recognised Covid-19 vaccination certificate from the Australian government, which is available online now and is surprisingly easy to obtain, provided you have a passport (which need not necessarily be Australian).
Countries are increasingly requiring proof of vaccination and so are airlines. The Covid-19 vaccination certificate is a digital-age equivalent of the little yellow vaccination booklets that used to be required to visit various countries, particularly those in Africa and South America.
The certificate shows your Covid-19 vaccinations to foreign border authorities, airlines, travel agents, businesses and organisations outside Australia.
Here’s how to get yours.
Firstly, you need to be fully vaccinated, having received two doses of an approved vaccine. Phony vaccination certificates from dodgy doctors won’t do the trick – although such things exist. Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton expressed concern last week over bogus vaccination certificates, saying that although “some highly motivated individuals” were trying to “get around the system; they are a very small minority”.
Anti-vax activists, vaccine sceptics and Covid deniers are unlikely to want the digital vaccination certificate and will not be eligible unless they have been vaccinated.
To protect the integrity of the system, the Australian government has installed measures to combat any attempt at fraud. The official Covid-19 vaccination certificate includes inbuilt safeguards which the authorities say make it as safe as the Australian passport. It includes a 2D barcode that foreign border authorities can scan, like a QR code. This allows them to verify that the Australian Government issued the certificate and it isn’t altered or forged.

The way it used to be. Yellow certificate of vaccination and prophylaxis


According to Stuart Robert, the Government Minister with responsibility for the rollout of the certificates, the certificate’s QR code, or visible digital seal, is “encrypted with the same encryption keys as your passport and can only be read by a passport-level reader.
“In the last 20 years,” Robert says, “there has been no fraud at all on Australians’ passports, and the vaccination certificate is built to the same standard, same encryption, same set of keys.”
To get your vax certificate, have your passport to hand as you’ll need the details as you apply for your certificate.
Go to MyGov on https://my.gov.au/ and log in or sign up. You need your vaccination status linked to your MyGov account through Medicare. If this is already in place and you have received the second dose of an authorised vaccine against Covid-19 in Australia, your vaccination certificate should already be available.
You can check or view it by clicking on the “Proof of Covid-19 vaccination” on the MyGov homepage. This will take you to the Medicare website or Express Plus Medicare App, where your vaccination certificate should be stored under “Immunisation history”.
Head to the section “International Covid-19 Vaccination Certificate” and hit “Request a Certificate”. Your vaccine history will be displayed (the vaccine you received and the dates of inoculation) and you will be asked if the details are correct.
If so, you then add your passport details. It can be either an Australian passport or a foreign passport with a relevant visa for Australia.

Tools of travel. Photo © Peter Needham


Remember, the online form is case sensitive. If the system doesn’t recognise your passport number (it didn’t with mine) go back and ensure the first two letters before the numerals are capitalised. Then it works.
Your middle name (if you have one) will appear just as a single initial. You have to fill in your full middle name (as it appears on your passport) to proceed.
From then on, it’s straightforward. The international certificate becomes available almost immediately to download and store as a file in PDF format or to print.
The digital certificate is another version of the earlier Covid-19 vaccination certificate, a main difference being the presence on the new version of one of the most complex QR codes you might see for a long while. It’s actually a “2D barcode” (for those who know the difference). 2D barcodes are generally considered more secure than QR codes, as the information they store is easily encrypted and allows less room for error.
Keep the certificate stored on your phone or print it out in order to use it. If you do the latter, be careful to protect that big QR code (2D barcode I mean) from getting worn or scratched, so it remains machine-readable.
If you prefer to use a larger screen to get the certificate, but want to store it on your phone, one simple way is to download it as a PDF on your computer, then email it to yourself with the PDF as an attachment, then download it on your phone email – and store it with the files on your phone.
Depending which overseas country you visit as travel opens up, you may not need to use your certificate – many countries do not ask you to demonstrate you’ve been vaccinated. But some will insist on it.
“The last thing the government wants for Australians when they travel overseas is to be stuck overseas because they can’t prove they’ve been vaccinated,” Minister Robert commented.
At the current pace of about 1,218,000 second doses a week, the government expects 70% of Australia’s population aged over 16 to be fully vaccinated against Covid by tomorrow (21 October 2021).
Projections indicate the 80% fully vaccinated figure will be reached by 4 November and 90% by 17 November, placing Australia among the world’s most Covid-vaccinated countries. It won’t stop there – the vaccination drive is running full-steam ahead.
Written by Peter Needham