Pre Employment Medical Certificate: Online GP Assessment
A pre-employment medical certificate confirms your fitness for a specific role before you start a new job. It is often required in industries such as mining, construction or emergency services. An AHPRA-registered GP assesses you by phone against the role's physical or psychological demands, and may switch to video if needed.
- Real-time phone or video consultation
- Assessed against your specific role's physical demands
- Confidential: employer sees the outcome, not your full history
- Common for mining, construction and emergency services roles
- Same-day issuance if approved
- One-off payment
- Full refund if declined
- Same-day delivery if approved
Starting Your Role on the Right Foot
In OMC Health's fitness for work certificate pathway, a pre-employment assessment asks two questions. Can the role requirements be assessed clinically, and can the requested clearance be supported from the information available?
Some employers, particularly in physically demanding or safety-critical industries, require medical confirmation that an applicant can safely perform specific duties before work begins.
This page explains what telehealth can and cannot assess, what the GP reviews and how industry requirements differ. It also explains why you should check the employer's exact form or checklist before booking.
Key Facts
Common industries
Mining, construction, emergency services, remote work and other physically or safety-demanding roles.
Assessment scope
The assessment needs to relate to the role's actual duties and the employer's requested clearance criteria.
What to bring
Job description, duties statement, employer form and any mandatory testing checklist.
Consult mode
The consultation is conducted in real time by a GP from an OMC Health partner practice, by phone or video.
What Is a Pre-Employment Medical Certificate?
It records the clinical fitness outcome that can be supported for the specific role and assessment requested by the prospective employer.
It is not a general statement that someone is in perfect health. It also does not replace mandatory workplace testing or an employer's own occupational health assessment.
When Employers Require a Pre-Employment Medical
An employer may request a pre-employment medical before onboarding or placement. It gives evidence of your capacity to meet the role's inherent physical, cognitive or safety requirements.
Check exactly what the employer requires before arranging the assessment because a GP certificate and a full occupational health medical are not always interchangeable.
See how an employer can verify an issued medical certificateHow to Get Started
We operate as a platform that connects you with trusted Australian medical practices in three simple steps:
Book Your Certificate
Select the Fitness for Work medical certificate on the OMC Health booking page and tell us a bit about your situation.
Consult with an AHPRA-Registered GP
We connect you with an available AHPRA-registered GP from one of our partner practices for a real-time phone or video consultation.
Receive Your Certificate If Approved
If the GP determines it's clinically appropriate, your certificate is digitally issued and emailed the same day.
Ready to get started?
Book a real-time consultation with an AHPRA-registered GP. From $12.99.
What Telehealth Pre-Employment Clearance Can and Cannot Assess
Telehealth can help when an employer wants a GP to review your health history and discuss the inherent requirements of a role. The GP can also consider current symptoms and complete a form without hands-on testing.
It cannot replace tests that must be performed in person. Depending on the role, a pre-employment medical may need extra tests. These can include vision or hearing tests, spirometry, drug and alcohol screening, a musculoskeletal examination, functional capacity testing, vaccinations or other investigations.
Before paying for an OMC consultation, upload the employer's exact form or checklist. If a mandatory component cannot be completed remotely, the applicant should use an appropriate in-person occupational health service. You can also review OMC Health's assessment limits before booking.
Mining, construction, emergency services, transport, remote work and similar roles can involve employer-specific or regulator-specific assessments that extend beyond a standard GP consultation. Workplace health and safety obligations also remain separate from the medical certificate itself.
What the Pre Employment Medical Assessment Covers
The GP reviews relevant health history, current symptoms and functional capacity against the duties and requirements supplied for the role.
Having a clear job description, duties statement and employer form helps the GP assess the actual requirements instead of relying on a broad job title.
OMC Health consultations are conducted by AHPRA-registered GPs. Registration can be checked on the AHPRA public register.
Mental Health History vs Formal Psychological Assessment
A GP telehealth consultation can discuss mental-health history and current functional impact where this is relevant to a role. It is not a formal occupational psychological assessment, psychometric test or employer-mandated specialist evaluation.
If the employer requires psychological testing, specialist assessment or another formal occupational evaluation, that requirement needs to be completed through the appropriate service.
See return-to-work assessment for an existing employee returning after absenceDiscrimination Law and Medical Assessment Limits
Employment decisions involving disability should focus on whether the person can perform the inherent requirements of the role. This includes with reasonable adjustments where they apply, rather than assumptions based on a diagnosis.
The Australian Human Rights Commission's disability rights guidance explains protections against disability discrimination and the relevance of inherent job requirements.
The useful clinical question
What functional demands does the role actually involve, and can the applicant safely perform them based on the assessment available?
Drug and Alcohol Testing Is a Separate Process
A telehealth pre-employment consultation cannot perform laboratory, breath, urine, saliva or other drug and alcohol screening that must be collected or measured in person.
If the employer's medical includes screening, confirm where and how that component must be completed before booking the GP consultation.
How a Telehealth Pre-Employment Consultation Works
The consultation is conducted in real time by phone or video. If the employer's assessment requires hands-on testing, visual examination or measurements that cannot be obtained remotely, the applicant needs an in-person occupational health assessment.
Have the job description, inherent duties and employer form ready. This helps the GP decide whether the requested clearance falls within the scope of the consultation.
What If Clearance Cannot Be Provided?
The GP may be unable to provide the requested clearance in some cases. This includes when the assessment does not show capacity for the role, mandatory testing is missing, or further examination or specialist input is needed.
That clinical outcome does not itself decide whether an employer will offer, modify or withdraw a role. Employment decisions remain subject to the employer's requirements and applicable workplace and discrimination law.
Possible clinical outcomes
- Clearance supported for the assessed duties
- Clearance supported with stated conditions
- Further or in-person assessment required
Pre-Employment Medicals for Fly-In Fly-Out Roles
FIFO and remote roles can involve additional safety considerations because work may be physically demanding, isolated or far from immediate medical assistance.
These employers may need a broader occupational medical, a functional assessment, drug and alcohol testing or an approved-provider process. These cannot be completed through a standard telehealth consultation.
Safe Work Australia notes that businesses must manage health and safety risks associated with remote and isolated work.
Check before booking
Ask whether the employer has a specific medical standard, mandatory tests, an approved-provider requirement or an occupational health form that must be completed in person.
Simple, transparent pricing
- Reviewed by AHPRA registered GP
- Delivered on the same day if approved
- Secure and confidential
- Full refund if GP declines
- No hidden fees
Confidentiality of Pre-Employment Medical Results
The purpose and scope of a third-party pre-employment assessment should be clear. This includes what information is being assessed and what report or outcome goes to the employer.
A fitness report should remain relevant to the requested assessment rather than unnecessarily disclosing unrelated clinical history. The Medical Board of Australia's Good medical practice code includes specific professional standards for third-party medical assessments and reports.
What Happens to a Job Offer If Clearance Is Not Supported?
The employment outcome depends on the role, the employer's genuine requirements, whether further assessment is available and whether reasonable adjustments are relevant.
The GP provides a clinical assessment within the scope of the consultation. The employer makes the employment decision and must apply the relevant workplace and discrimination requirements.
Pre-Employment Medicals vs Ongoing Workplace Health Checks
A pre-employment assessment addresses the requirements relevant before starting or being placed into a role.
Some industries also use periodic surveillance, licence medicals or recurring occupational health checks after employment begins. Those are separate processes and may involve tests that cannot be performed remotely.
How Long Is a Pre-Employment Medical Valid For?
There is no universal validity period that applies to every employer or industry. The requesting organisation determines how recent the assessment must be for its recruitment or onboarding process.
If the start date changes substantially or health circumstances change, the employer may request a new or updated assessment.
Confirm the timeframe
Ask the employer how recently the medical must have been completed and whether its form has an expiry or assessment date requirement.
Preparing for a Physically Demanding Role Assessment
Provide specific information about duties such as repetitive lifting, prolonged standing, climbing, working at heights, driving or operating equipment. If heel pain or hand numbness already limits these tasks, the medical certificate for foot pain and medical certificate for carpal tunnel pages explain how limits are recorded.
If the employer requires direct measurement of strength, movement, cardiovascular capacity or another physical function, that component needs an appropriate in-person assessment.
What If You Have a Pre-Existing Condition?
A pre-existing condition does not by itself answer whether someone can perform a role safely.
The assessment considers your current functional impact and the inherent requirements of the role. It also looks at available clinical information and whether further testing or reasonable workplace adjustments are needed.
Pre-Employment Medicals and Existing Employer Policies
Employers may use their own medical questionnaire, occupational health standard, clearance form or approved-provider process.
Upload the employer's documents before the consultation. This lets the GP decide whether the assessment can be done through telehealth or needs an in-person service.
Bring to your consultation
- Job description and inherent duties
- Employer medical form or checklist
- Details of any mandatory tests or approved-provider requirement
Certificate Verification
Once an OMC Health certificate is issued, its authenticity can be checked through OMC Health's verification service.
Frequently asked questions
View all FAQsThe consultation is conducted in real time by phone or video. If the employer's assessment requires hands-on testing, visual examination or measurements that cannot be obtained remotely, the applicant needs an in-person occupational health assessment.
This depends on discrimination law protections. A job offer generally shouldn't be withdrawn for a condition that doesn't genuinely affect your ability to perform the role's core, inherent duties safely.
Not usually as part of the same assessment. Drug and alcohol testing, where required, is typically a separate process arranged through a different provider, so check with your employer whether both are needed.
A pre-existing condition doesn't automatically prevent clearance. The GP assesses whether it's well managed and whether it affects your capacity to do the role's core duties safely.
Yes, generally. Your specific health information remains between you and the assessing practitioner, with the employer typically receiving only a fitness outcome, not your full clinical history.
Part of it can. A GP can review your health history and fitness for the role in a real-time consult and issue a certificate, if clinically appropriate. Drug and alcohol tests, hearing and vision tests, x-rays and physical exams need an in-person clinic. Check what your employer asks for before you book.
Yes, a little. If approved, the GP completes the employer's form section by section, then signs and stamps it. Your employer gets the form it asked for, not a generic certificate.
A pre-employment medical certificate confirms your fitness for a specific role before you start a new job and is often required in industries such as mining, construction, or emergency services. An AHPRA-registered GP assesses you by phone against the physical or psychological demands of that role, and may switch to video if needed.