Medical records
Medical document and report translation into English
Medical reports, treatment summaries, discharge notes, vaccination records, test results and prescriptions, translated into English for continuing care, an insurance claim or a visa file. Delivered digitally, with NAATI certification as an option.
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Where it is asked for
Three reasons a medical record needs to be in English
Who will read the translation shapes what it must carry.
Continuing care in Australia
A doctor or specialist here needs to know what was diagnosed, what was prescribed and what the last results showed. A clear English record lets treatment carry on from where it left off.
Insurance claims
A treatment summary or a discharge note in English is commonly asked for with an insurance claim. Ask the insurer which pages they want to see, then send us those pages and nothing more.
A visa file
A visa application may ask for records of past treatment or vaccinations. For a document translated in Australia, Home Affairs points to NAATI: “All documents not in English must be translated into English. Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.”
Source: Home Affairs, translating documents (page last updated 16 September 2026)
What a careful job includes
What the translation carries
Every field and marginal note is translated in the record’s own order, and handwriting that cannot be read is marked [illegible] rather than guessed. Stamps and seals are marked where they appear, with their wording translated, and a signature is marked [signed]. Names are romanised to match the spelling in your passport, and dates are converted with the original kept alongside.
Standard English terminology
Diagnoses and procedures are translated into standard English medical terms. Each drug name is translated as the record gives it, brand or generic, and never swapped for a different product sold in Australia. The same term is used for the same thing on every page of a multi-page record.
Exact dosages and units
Doses, strengths and units are copied exactly as written. We do not convert them, because the number on the page is the number the prescriber chose.
Abbreviations expanded
Shorthand for frequency, route, specialty and ward is written out in English where its meaning is clear, so nothing depends on the reader knowing the convention used in the country of origin. An abbreviation that could mean more than one thing is left as written and marked, not guessed.
Lab values with reference ranges
Each result is set beside the reference range and unit the laboratory printed, so a high or low flag keeps the meaning the lab gave it.
Handwritten entries
Clinician notes are transcribed where they can be read. A word that cannot be read with confidence is marked as illegible rather than guessed.
Confidential handling
Medical records are handled as confidential. Your file is used only to prepare the translation, and the finished translation goes to the email address on your order.
For a visa or citizenship file translated in Australia, Home Affairs’ wording above points to a NAATI-accredited translator, which is the NAATI certification option. Our NAATI translation page explains what it includes. For any other reader, a doctor, an insurer or another government office, ask them which option they need before you order — services explains what each includes.
Pricing
The full price on screen before you order
Translation is $39.99 per page into English, delivered digitally. Add NAATI certification for $59.99 per page, prepared by a NAATI-certified translator with a digital stamp carrying a scannable QR code. A discharge summary that runs to several pages is priced per page, and the total is shown before you pay.
Medical records are often lodged alongside identity documents. If a citizenship file also needs a birth certificate or another record translated, see citizenship document translation, or contact us about a document not listed on this site.
Questions
What people ask about translating medical records
Check which records the reader wants, whether a doctor, an insurer or a visa clinic, get copies from the hospital or clinic that holds them, and order online. On the order page, choose the record’s language and Medical record, set the page count and add one clear photo per page, then pick Standard or NAATI certification and a delivery speed, and pay the total shown. The translation arrives as a PDF by email. Up to four pages can be ordered online; a longer hospital file goes through an enquiry and is quoted first.
Possibly, through the government’s Free Translating Service, if you qualify. TIS National translates up to 10 personal documents into English free for permanent residents and eligible visa holders in Australia, and its list of eligible documents includes a medical record “if ongoing treatment is required in Australia”. A medical document usually comes back as an extract summary, longer than the usual 100 words, and you can ask for a full translation if you have reasonable evidence you need one. It does not take translations needed for a visa or citizenship application, and allow up to 30 days after approval. The full test is on who qualifies for the free service.
Take records in English to a GP or another recognised vaccination provider, who can add them to the register. Services Australia says “You’ll need documents in English that show what immunisations you’ve had”, and the provider can also check them against the National Immunisation Program and help you catch up. For records not in English, it points to the Free Translating Service, which lists immunisation records among the documents it translates. If you do not qualify, a Standard translation is $39.99 a page, with every entry and date in English. Ask the provider before you order whether it wants the NAATI option.
It can give you a rough idea of what the report says, but it is a poor fit for a copy you hand to a doctor, an insurer or a visa clinic. A machine can misread a handwritten drug name or dose, expand an abbreviation with the wrong meaning, or separate a result from the reference range printed beside it, and the output does not flag which lines it got wrong. No translator is named on it, either. Check anything that worries you with your doctor. For a copy others will rely on, choose the NAATI option if the reader wants a named, certified translator.
No. We translate what the report says, not what it means for you, so the English reads as a medical report rather than a simplified summary. Nothing is added to explain results, soften a diagnosis or give an opinion, because a translation will not say something the original does not say. Abbreviations for frequency, route, specialty and ward are written out in English where their meaning is clear, which helps, but clinical terms stay clinical. To understand what a result means for your health, take the translation to your GP and ask them to go through it with you.
Where it can be read, yes, and anything that cannot be made out is marked [illegible] rather than guessed. On a medical record that rule matters more than anywhere, because a guessed drug name or dose could mislead the next doctor. If a line you need comes back marked [illegible], ask the clinic or the prescriber for a typed copy or a printout from their system, and have that translated instead. A sharp colour photo of the whole page, margins and stamps included, gives the translation the best chance: see photographing a document for translation.
It confirms that a named NAATI-certified translator stands behind the English, not that the medical content is right. With the NAATI option, $59.99 a page on top of $39.99, the PDF carries the translator’s certification statement and a digital stamp with a QR code, so a clinic or insurer can check the credential. The statement covers the translation only. The translator does not confirm the diagnosis, check that the record is accurate or genuine, or give a medical opinion, so questions about the content go back to the doctor who wrote it. What a certified translation looks like walks through the file.
Yes. A medical certificate, such as a sick note or a fitness-to-work or fitness-to-travel certificate, is ordered as a medical record. A certificate printed on one side is one page, at $39.99, and each extra side with text, a stamp or a seal is another page. The doctor’s name and any registration number, the dates it covers and the wording of the clinic stamp are translated, and the signature is marked [signed]. Before you order, ask the employer, university or insurer here what it needs, including whether it wants the NAATI option.
Yes. Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu are all on the order page, as are Arabic, Spanish, French and German, and every language costs the same per page. Choose the language the report is written in, with English as the other side. The menus also run the other way, so an Australian discharge summary can go from English into a listed language for a doctor overseas. With NAATI certification, the job goes to a translator certified for that direction, and if we cannot source one, the order is refunded in full. For a language not listed, ask us first and we confirm cover before you pay.
Normal delivery is within 3 days and included. Urgent is 12–24 hours for $49, and ASAP is within 4 hours for $99 where a translator for your language is free. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. These windows are estimates, not a set arrival time, so if a specialist appointment or a hospital admission is booked, tell us the date before you order and we will say honestly whether we can meet it. The order page takes up to four pages, so for a long file, ask the practice which pages it needs and order just those.
Where you can, use a professional interpreter instead. TIS National says a credentialed interpreter “can help to ensure accuracy of communication”, and GPs, nurse practitioners, endorsed midwives and approved medical specialists in private practice can use its Free Interpreting Service, by phone, video or on site, for Medicare-rebatable services to patients eligible for Medicare. It does not cover “state funded public health services, such as services provided in hospitals”, so ask a hospital how it arranges one. An interpreter covers the conversation; the written reports you take along are a translation job.
If they are not in English, plan on it. Home Affairs tells applicants to bring “any existing specialist or other medical reports for known medical conditions” and any previous chest x-rays to the examination. Its instructions to panel clinics say reports must be “completed in English or translated into English by an accredited translator”, showing the translator’s name, contact details and accreditation. A translation you made yourself shows none of that. Ask your panel clinic whether it arranges translation or wants you to bring one. The NAATI option names the translator and carries their credential and stamp.