Getting a Dive Medical in Australia

Most people learning to dive in Australia never need a full dive medical. You fill in a standard health questionnaire before your course, and you only see a doctor if one of your answers says you must; that doctor, ideally one trained in diving medicine, then signs a form saying whether you are fit to dive.

This is the practical how-to. For which conditions actually stop people diving, read Scuba Diving Medicals: What Disqualifies You. Everything here is general information, not medical advice: your own fitness to dive is a question for a dive doctor.

Step 1: the diver medical questionnaire

Before any course you fill in the Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire, current version dated 1 January 2026. It was written by the Diver Medical Screen Committee, an independent group of diving doctors, together with the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS), DAN (US), DAN Europe and the hyperbaric medicine division of the University of California, San Diego.

It first appeared in June 2020, replacing the one-page RSTC (Recreational Scuba Training Council) medical statement that had been used for decades; PADI says it replaces PADI's own medical statement wherever its standards call for one. Queensland now makes it the legally approved form for anyone starting a course.

Page one has 10 yes/no questions: heart, lungs and blood; age; fitness; eyes, ears, sinuses and teeth; recent surgery; the nervous system; mental health; back problems, hernias and diabetes; stomach and bowel problems; and prescription medicines. If you can honestly answer "no" to all ten, you sign it and you do not need a doctor. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian signs.

What a "yes" answer means

A "yes" does not mean you cannot dive. It means one of two things, depending on the question.

- Three questions send you straight to a doctor: struggling with moderate exercise (the form's yardstick is walking 1.6 km in 14 minutes, or swimming 200 metres without a rest), surgery in the past 12 months or ongoing trouble from an old operation, and taking prescription medicine (the contraceptive pill, menopausal hormone replacement and most antimalarials do not count). - The other seven send you to a box of follow-up questions on page two. Only a "yes" in the box means a doctor's visit. Being over 45, for example, is not a trigger on its own: it takes you to questions about smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure and early heart disease in your family.

If you do need a doctor, take all three pages with you. The third page is the Medical Examiner's Evaluation Form, where the doctor marks you "approved" or "not approved". UHMS notes that only that last page has to go back to your dive centre, so the detail of your health history can stay between you and your doctor.

Be honest: by signing, you accept responsibility for anything you leave out. If you are unsure whether something counts, ask a doctor, not the dive shop; PADI reminds students that dive staff are not physicians and cannot give medical clearance.

When you need a full dive medical

You need a doctor's sign-off when:

- the questionnaire says so (above); - you are doing a course in Queensland and your questionnaire flags anything, because state law then requires a medical certificate before you dive; - the operator asks for one. Some set their own triggers: Sunlover Reef Cruises, for example, requires medical clearance for every introductory diver aged 65 and over; - you are going to dive for work, which needs a different, occupational medical (see below).

The South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society (SPUMS), the diving medicine society that advises Australian governments on diving safety, goes further than the questionnaire. Its guidelines say every diving candidate should have a medical risk assessment before first breathing compressed air underwater, even in a pool, and that divers aged 45 and over should have one focused on the heart, repeated at least every five years. That is a recommendation, not a legal requirement.

Who can sign it?

It depends on whose rules apply.

- The questionnaire asks for a "certified medical doctor or other legally certified medical provider". UHMS points out that in most countries only physicians are recognised, so a sign-off from anyone else may not be accepted overseas. - Queensland's regulation asks for a certificate from a medical practitioner, and the state's code of practice says preferably one with experience in diving medicine. - SPUMS is firmer: doctors without training in diving medicine should not do diving medicals, and if one does, anything abnormal should be referred on to a doctor who has that training.

So in many cases any GP can sign the questionnaire, but the safest choice is a doctor who has completed a SPUMS-recognised diving medicine course. If you dispute a decision, SPUMS says to see a specialist diving physician.

The SPUMS medical: 6th edition, 2025

SPUMS suggests its member doctors use its forms, so a doctor from the SPUMS list will usually work from the SPUMS medical: the society's *Guidelines on Medical Risk Assessment for Recreational Diving*. The current version is the sixth edition, published in September 2025, which updated the diabetes guidelines and added a section on assessing children and teenagers. The previous edition dated from January 2020.

It has three parts: a detailed health questionnaire, the doctor's examination, and a one-page Statement of Health for Recreational Diving, which SPUMS says should be used as your certificate of fitness to dive. On it the doctor records whether they found anything incompatible with diving, plus any advice or conditions. You sign to say you understand the risks discussed and agree to the result being shared with your instructor.

The examination covers:

- your eyesight, with and without glasses or contacts; - your ears (including watching your eardrums move while you gently equalise), nose, throat and teeth; - heart, lungs, blood pressure and a urine test; - your nervous system, including a balance test standing heel to toe with your eyes closed; - lung function on a spirometer, which SPUMS says is indicated for every candidate having a diving medical.

Other tests depend on your age and history. SPUMS recommends a resting ECG for everyone 45 and over, a hearing test where hearing loss is suspected or as a baseline, and a chest X-ray mainly if you have a history of lung problems or something abnormal turns up.

Is AS 4005.1 still current?

No. Clinics still advertise "AS 4005.1 medicals", but the standard has gone. Standards Australia's store lists AS 4005.1-2000 (Training and certification of recreational divers, Part 1: Minimum entry-level SCUBA diving) as withdrawn. Queensland's 2024 regulation replaced its references to the withdrawn standard with the international AS ISO 24801 series on diver training, and SPUMS presents its guidelines as its own policy because no current Australian and New Zealand standard covers recreational dive medicals. If a shop asks for an "AS 4005.1 medical", ask which form they want your doctor to sign.

Queensland's rules

Queensland sets legal rules for dive operators in the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Regulation 2024, which took effect on 1 August 2024, backed by the *Recreational Diving, Recreational Technical Diving and Snorkelling Code of Practice 2024*.

- Courses (the regulation calls them entry-level certificate dives): you must give the operator a medical declaration on the regulator's approved form, which WorkSafe Queensland says is the UHMS Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire. If it says you need a doctor, you cannot dive until you hand over a medical certificate from a medical practitioner saying you are fit to dive. - Try dives (non-certified dives, such as a reef pontoon intro dive) use a separate, shorter WorkSafe Queensland declaration. The operator must read it, decide whether it is reasonable for you to dive, and may seek medical advice about anything you declare. - Timing: the code says the certificate should be in English, preferably from a doctor with diving medicine experience, and issued within the 90 days before your course starts. Pro Dive Cairns, for one, applies that 90-day window. - Records: operators must keep your declaration and any certificate for at least a year. - Certified divers may be asked whether they have had any illness, injury or new prescription medicine since their last dive medical.

Queensland's old rules, until August 2024, used their own triggers, including age over 45, body mass index, gender and waist measurement; WorkSafe Queensland replaced them with the questionnaire to align with the rest of the world.

What a dive medical costs

Prices vary with the tests included. Three examples, checked October 2026:

- South Steyne Medical Centre, Manly (Sydney): $195 for a recreational dive medical with Dr Jon Levenston, a GP with an interest in dive medicine. Any further tests or specialist reports are extra. - Sports Clinic NQ, Townsville: $165, including history, examination, spirometry and a hearing test, with an ECG when needed. Its occupational medical is also $165. - Healthcare on Collins, Melbourne CBD: $437.75 including GST, with ECG and spirometry included. A chest X-ray is billed separately by the radiology provider, and the clinic says the fee is not rebatable through Medicare.

Ask exactly what is included. For the total cost of learning, see How Much Does It Cost to Get Scuba Certified.

How long does a dive medical last?

There is no single expiry date.

- The questionnaire itself does not lapse. UHMS says each organisation sets its own rule for how recent it must be, and gives three months before a course as an example. - Queensland's code asks for a certificate issued within 90 days of the course start. - SPUMS says you should be reassessed after any significant illness or change in your health, and at least every five years from 45. - Operators can set their own windows, so check when you book.

Your certification card, by contrast, is for life.

Recreational vs occupational dive medicals

If you searched for an "occupational dive medical", you need a different exam. Diving for work, which Queensland's Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 describes as working in or under water while breathing compressed gas, falls under AS/NZS 2299.1:2015 (Occupational diving operations, Part 1), which Standards Australia lists as current.

- The doctor must be trained in underwater medicine. SPUMS recommends that only doctors who have completed its longer recognised courses (at least 10 working days or 60 hours) do occupational medicals. - It is annual. The Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) says the certificate lasts up to 12 months and must be renewed every year, and for entry to an ADAS Part 1 course it must be issued within three months before the course. Queensland's regulation likewise treats a certificate as current only if it was issued in the past 12 months. - You must be 18 or over, according to ADAS.

How to find a dive doctor

- The SPUMS Diving Doctors List is searchable by suburb and shows which doctors also do occupational and children's medicals. SPUMS counts 322 diving doctors. - DAN keeps a worldwide network of doctors who examine divers and can refer you to one. UHMS also notes that your own doctor can consult DAN free of charge about your case. - Your dive centre can tell you which local doctor its students use.

Before your appointment

- Take all three pages of the questionnaire, plus any form your dive centre gave you. - List your medicines and doses, and take specialist letters and recent test results. - Bring any chest X-rays and reports from the past five years (Healthcare on Collins asks for these). - Sort the medical out before you pay for flights or a reef course, so a referral for an extra test does not derail your plans.

Worried about fitness? Read How Fit Do You Need to Be to Scuba Dive?, then work through the rest of our Learn to Dive hub.

Sources

- Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society: Recreational Diving Medical Screening System - Diver Medical Screen Committee: Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire, version 2026-01-01 (PDF) - UHMS: Recreational Diving Medical Screening System FAQs - PADI Pros: New medical screening system for divers - PADI: Discover Scuba Diving - PADI: Open Water Diver course - SPUMS: SPUMS Full Medical - SPUMS: The SPUMS diving medical, 6th edition 2025 (PDF) - SPUMS: Diving Doctors List - SPUMS: Home page - Standards Australia Store: AS 4005.1-2000 - Standards Australia Store: AS/NZS 2299.1:2015 - Queensland Legislation: Safety in Recreational Water Activities Regulation 2024 - WorkSafe Queensland: Recreational Diving, Recreational Technical Diving and Snorkelling Code of Practice 2024 (PDF) - WorkSafe Queensland: Table of changes, Safety in Recreational Water Activities Regulation 2024 (PDF) - WorkSafe Queensland: Table of changes, Code of Practice 2024 (PDF) - WorkSafe Queensland: Medical declaration for non-certified diving (PDF) - Queensland Legislation: Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 - ADAS: Medical Fitness - DAN World: Medical Services - Pro Dive Cairns: FAQ - Sunlover Reef Cruises: Introductory Scuba Dive - South Steyne Medical Centre: Dive Medicals Sydney - Sports Clinic NQ: Dive Medicals - Healthcare on Collins: Diving Medicals

Header photo: A clinic technician checks a patient's ear canal with an otoscope, by Senior Airman Christopher Toon, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.