Medical certificates for sick leave
You can request a sick leave certificate online when illness or injury prevents you working, subject to a doctor's assessment. Doccio considers the medical basis of your absence, not your payroll balance or whether a manager has approved leave. Explain your symptoms, the period involved and how your work is affected. The doctor will decide whether documentation or a fuller consultation is appropriate.
One-day requests: $19. Two-day requests: $29.
What is on the certificate?
- Your name and the period the doctor can support.
- Relevant wording about the medical basis of the absence.
- The doctor's details, assessment information and actual issue date.
- A Doccio verification reference, without consultation notes.
The document provides medical evidence. It does not create additional paid leave, calculate entitlement or decide an employment dispute.
When this pathway may be appropriate
- You are unwell and unable to perform your normal work.
- An existing health condition has worsened and affected your capacity.
- You need a short period of illness assessed for documentation.
- You are unsure whether continuing symptoms require a longer appointment.
For an absence to care for another person, use carer's leave. For treatment advice as well as paperwork, consider an online doctor consultation.
How it works
Describe your symptoms
include when they began and whether they are changing.
Explain the impact
tell the doctor which duties or shifts were affected.
Complete the assessment
provide further information if requested.
Receive the outcome
submit any issued certificate through your workplace process.
Sick leave and medical evidence
Illness can affect physical or mental health
The Fair Work framework allows eligible employees to use paid sick leave when a personal illness or injury prevents them working. Stress and pregnancy-related illness can fall within this framework. See Fair Work's paid leave guidance.
Entitlement is separate from a certificate
Full-time employees generally accrue 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave annually under the National Employment Standards, with a proportionate entitlement for part-time employees based on ordinary hours. Unused leave carries forward. Casual employees do not receive this paid entitlement. These rules concern employment, not whether a doctor can assess your health.
Check your leave balance and relevant employment arrangements instead of assuming an issued certificate guarantees payment. The Fair Work Ombudsman's guidance explains the distinction.
Longer illness deserves a care plan
Repeated short requests can leave the underlying illness unaddressed. If you remain unwell, discuss whether further assessment, treatment or continuing support is needed rather than focusing only on extending a document.
Employment protections during a prolonged absence are more complicated than the number of days on a certificate. Fair Work explains longer periods of sick leave. Seek individual workplace advice where necessary.
Be clear about what happened
Provide accurate dates and describe your actual limitations. You do not need to choose a diagnosis yourself. The doctor's role is to assess the information, not to reproduce a conclusion you have been asked to obtain.
Pricing
A one-day request is $19; a two-day request is $29. Requests for three days or more need a consultation at $59 during business hours or $79 after hours. The final certified period depends on the assessment.
Every certificate is verifiable
Employers and institutions can confirm a Doccio certificate in seconds at doccio.com.au/verify, seeing only the details needed to confirm it's genuine.
Doccio Clinical Team
Australian-registered doctors and clinicians
- Clinically reviewed
- 1 September 2026
- Last updated
- 6 September 2026
- Content version
- v3
Questions, answered
Ready when you are.
Start online in a few minutes. An Australian doctor reviews your request and gets back to you, usually within the hour.