No. Backdated certificates cannot be provided by Hola GPs or practitioners.
Backdating medical certificates in Australia is considered unethical. A medical certificate should ideally represent a patient’s condition at the time of the doctor’s review. A doctor or health practitioner cannot issue a certificate for a previous day or change the date of consultation in a certificate to a previous day.
What is allowed?
- Same-day certificates for a single day
- Multi-day certificates from the date of consult.
What is not allowed?
- Requesting a certificate for the past date or yesterday. Hola Health does not backdate medical certificates
- Requesting a certificate for a future date or the next day. We cannot predict your future illness. Our doctors and practitioners cannot write false dates or information – this is against medical ethics.
Note: Any certificate provided cannot list patient conditions due to privacy policy restrictions.
Why is it not allowed
- Legal responsibility: A medical certificate is considered a legal document that validates your absence from work, school, university or any other institution. To make it legitimate, an accurate assessment at the time of review or consultation is necessary.
- Professional Standards: A physical medical certificate or a medical certificate online in Australia is approved by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA), registered doctors and health practitioners. AHPRA requires all practitioners to uphold the highest ethical, clinical standards and professional conduct. Backdating, especially if done without a detailed clinical evaluation, could undermine these standards and could lead to legal action.
- Risks of backdating for patients: Submitting a fraudulent certificate or a backdated certificate could raise questions from your employer or institution and could lead to disciplinary action if found at fault.
- Risks of backdating for practitioners: Backdating, especially without the right clinical evidence, can result in professional credibility and disciplinary action.
Can I choose the date when submitting my request?
The single-day medical certificate will only cover the date on which the booking is made. Please note that we will cover the full 24 hours of the date the booking was made, not 24 hrs from when the booking was made.
More information: doctor's medical certificate online.
