Medical Certificate for Migraines: When You Are Too Unwell to Work
Medical Certificate for Migraines: When You Are Too Unwell to Work
The light through the blinds feels like a spotlight. Your stomach is turning. The thought of a screen, a phone call, or a drive to the clinic is out of the question. And somewhere underneath all of that sits a nagging worry about what you are going to tell work.
Here is the direct answer; Yes, you can get a medical certificate for a migraine in Australia. Migraine is a recognised neurological condition, not an excuse, and sick leave covers any personal illness that leaves you unable to work. An AHPRA registered practitioner assesses you and issues a certificate where that assessment supports it. You can start the process on our medical certificates page without leaving a dark room.
GET A MEDICAL CERTIFICATEFirst, When A Headache Needs Urgent Care Instead
Before anything else, some headaches are not migraine attacks and need immediate attention. According to Healthdirect, you should call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance if you have a sudden and severe headache, or a headache along with vomiting, confusion, neck stiffness or changes in your vision.
Healthdirect also advises going straight to your nearest emergency department if a headache comes with fever, neck stiffness, confusion or a change in personality, blurred or double vision, loss of balance, or a seizure. See a doctor promptly for a headache that gets steadily worse over weeks, starts after a head injury, worsens when you lie down, or begins when you cough.
Migraine Australia adds that it is appropriate to seek emergency or urgent care when an attack comes on faster than usual, is far more intense than your normal pattern, involves uncontrollable vomiting, or has lasted longer than 72 hours. Paperwork can wait. Care cannot.
Why Migraine Genuinely Stops People Working
Migraine is not a bad headache with better marketing. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported in December 2025 that around 1.7 million Australians were living with migraine in 2022, making it the most common long term neurological condition in the country. It affected 9.2 per cent of females compared with 4.1 per cent of males, and it falls disproportionately on people of working age.
Healthdirect describes a typical attack as severe throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head, that gets worse with physical activity, often with nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Around one in three people experience an aura beforehand, with vision changes, numbness, dizziness or difficulty speaking. An untreated attack can last anywhere from 4 hours to 3 days.
There is also the part that employers rarely see. Healthdirect describes a postdrome phase, sometimes called a migraine hangover, involving tiredness and difficulty concentrating for a period after the pain lifts. That is why someone can look recovered and still not be safe to drive a forklift, chair a meeting or process a spreadsheet accurately.
Migraine And Your Sick Leave Rights
Paid sick leave applies when you cannot work because of a personal illness or injury. There is no official list of conditions that qualify and no separate rule for headaches, so a migraine attack is treated like any other illness that makes work impossible.
An employer can ask for evidence for as little as one day off work, or even less. There are no strict rules on the type of evidence, but it must be enough to convince a reasonable person that the leave was genuinely taken because of illness. Medical certificates and statutory declarations are both listed as acceptable examples, and an award or registered agreement can set out what is required in your workplace.
Notice is a separate obligation. You need to tell your employer as soon as possible, and that can happen after the leave has already started, which matters when an attack wakes you at 4:00am.
What Your Employer Is Entitled To Know
Less than many people assume. The AMA Guidelines on Medical Certificates (2011, revised 2016) state that a diagnosis does not normally need to appear on a certificate for sick leave. A statement that you were unfit for work due to a medical condition, covering specific dates, is generally sufficient.
The Fair Work Ombudsman also states that it is not considered reasonable for an employer to contact your treating practitioner for further information, or to attend a medical appointment with you unless you have asked them to. Your manager is entitled to know that you could not work. The clinical detail stays between you and your practitioner.
That matters with migraine in particular, because it is a condition people are still asked to justify. You do not have to describe the aura or defend the severity to keep your entitlement.
Getting A Medical Certificate Without Leaving A Dark Room
This is where telehealth earns its place for migraine. A consultation with Intouch happens by phone, so there is no bright screen to stare at, no waiting room fluorescents, and no drive while your vision is unreliable. You can stay lying down with the lights off and still complete the consultation.
- Tell your employer you are unwell, ideally by message rather than a phone call.
- Lodge your request on our online medical certificates page. Intouch takes requests seven days a week between 8:00am and 10:00pm, and states that requests received after hours are reviewed the next day.
- Choose the 1 to 2 day option or the 3 days and over option based on what you expect, knowing the practitioner sets the actual period.
- Keep your phone nearby with the ringer on and the brightness down. An AHPRA registered nurse practitioner calls you to complete the consultation. Intouch publishes an average response within one hour during business hours.
- If a certificate is issued, it arrives as a downloadable document at the email address on your request.
This is a real consultation rather than a form. AHPRA guidance for practitioners providing virtual care states that National Boards do not consider it good practice to provide health services based on a patient completing a questionnaire where the practitioner has not formally consulted with them, and that an online chat is not treated as a real time consultation. The conversation is what makes the certificate meaningful.
GET A MEDICAL CERTIFICATEWhat The Practitioner Will Ask, And Why
Expect a focused conversation rather than an interrogation. Most of it is aimed at two things: ruling out anything that needs urgent in person care, and understanding how this attack affects your capacity to work.
| What Is Asked | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| What the pain is like and where it sits | Helps separate a migraine pattern from other causes of headache that need different care. |
| Whether you had warning signs or aura | Vision changes, speech difficulty or numbness before an attack are part of the clinical picture. |
| Nausea, vomiting, light and sound sensitivity | These features often decide whether working is realistic at all. |
| How this attack compares with your usual ones | A sudden change in pattern is a reason to send you for in person assessment rather than issue a certificate. |
| What you have taken and when | Frequent use of pain relief can create its own problem, and the practitioner needs the full picture. |
| What your job actually involves | Driving, operating machinery, screen work and customer contact all carry different risks during an attack. |
The practitioner then decides whether a certificate is appropriate and what period it should cover. If they conclude you need examination or imaging, they will say so, and that is the system protecting you rather than failing you.
One Day, Or More Than One?
Intouch charges $19.50 for a 1 to 2 day certificate and $27.00 for a certificate covering 3 days and over. The fee follows the certificate, not the other way around. Because an untreated attack can run up to three days and the postdrome phase can add more, some people genuinely need longer, and some are back the next morning. The practitioner’s assessment sets the dates. Our guide to single day versus multi day certificates walks through how that decision is made.
If the attack has already passed and you are chasing documentation for a day you missed, read how long a medical certificate can be backdated in Australia before you request one, because the date a certificate is issued and the period it covers are two different things.
GET A MEDICAL CERTIFICATEWhen Telehealth Is Not The Right Fit
A phone consultation suits an established migraine pattern that behaves the way it usually does. It is the wrong choice when this is the worst or most sudden headache you have ever had, when your usual pattern has clearly changed, when you have neurological symptoms that are new to you, or when the situation calls for a physical examination, imaging or blood tests.
If Migraine Is Costing You Days Every Month
A certificate handles today. It does not handle a pattern. Healthdirect notes that if you need pain relief medicine several times a month it is worth talking to a doctor about preventive treatment, partly because frequent use can lead to medication overuse headache, and that people with attacks on more than 2 to 4 days a month may be offered preventive options.
Keeping a headache diary is one of the more useful things you can do between attacks, since it gives a practitioner something concrete to work with. Healthdirect points to Migraine and Headache Australia for diaries and apps. If you already have a management plan and simply need a script continued, a telehealth consultation can cover new and repeat prescriptions where the practitioner considers it clinically appropriate. Ongoing or worsening migraine is worth reviewing with a regular doctor, and sometimes a neurologist.
Rest First, Paperwork Second
If you are in the middle of an attack right now, the useful order is simple. Get somewhere dark and quiet, follow whatever plan already works for you, and let your employer know you are out. When you have a moment, lodge a request with Intouch Healthcare and speak with an AHPRA registered nurse practitioner about a certificate. The document can be sorted from your bed.
GET A MEDICAL CERTIFICATEFrequently Asked Questions
Q: Can you get a medical certificate for a migraine in Australia?
Yes. Sick leave covers being unable to work because of a personal illness or injury, and there is no list of qualifying conditions. A practitioner can issue a certificate for a migraine attack where their assessment supports it. The decision is clinical, so a certificate is never guaranteed.
Q: Does my medical certificate have to say I had a migraine?
Usually not. Under the AMA Guidelines on Medical Certificates, a diagnosis does not normally need to appear on a certificate for sick leave. A statement that you were unfit for work due to a medical condition, covering specific dates, is generally enough.
Q: Can I do a telehealth consultation while I have a migraine?
Often yes, because the consultation happens by phone rather than by video, so you do not need to look at a bright screen. You can stay in a dark, quiet room and talk the practitioner through your symptoms.
Q: How many days can a migraine certificate cover?
The practitioner sets the period based on their assessment. Healthdirect notes that an untreated migraine attack can last between 4 hours and 3 days, and that many people feel drained or foggy afterwards, so the certified period depends on your presentation rather than on which fee you paid.
Q: When should a migraine be treated as an emergency instead?
Healthdirect advises calling triple zero (000) for a sudden and severe headache, or a headache with vomiting, confusion, neck stiffness or changes in vision, and going straight to an emergency department for a headache with fever, seizure, loss of balance, or a change in personality. Sort out documentation afterwards.
Q: Can a nurse practitioner issue a medical certificate for migraine?
Nurse practitioners are registered nurses endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia who practise at an advanced clinical level and can practise independently. Intouch certificates are issued by AHPRA registered nurse practitioners, and their registration can be checked on the public register.
