making it official - coles baby club

Your hospital will provide you with a form to register your baby's birth. This copy has an official section, which will be filled out by the hospital. Once completed, the hospital will often accept the form on your behalf. If you forget to hand the form in at the hospital, or your hospital doesn't accept the form, you can lodge it with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or a local Magistrates Court office.

Medicare formalities

You will also be provided with a Medicare Application for Enrolment of a Newborn Child form at the hospital. This needs to be completed and either mailed or taken to a Medicare office. Once enrolled in Medicare your child's details will be added to the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register. For more information on immunisation, go to Immunise Australia or 1800 671 811 (national).

Private health insurance

Some private health policies cover babies from birth, even if you haven't had a chance to advise the insurer of the baby's details.

Maternity payment

An application form for Family Tax Benefit A and B, the Maternity Payment and Maternity Immunisation Allowance will usually be provided in hospital. This copy will contain the hospital's official stamp and it is important to use this for any benefit claims through Centrelink.