Making a notification

As a prescribed medical practitioner (occupational and environmental medicine and respiratory and sleep medicine specialists), you are required to notify the Queensland Health chief executive when a person is diagnosed with a notifiable dust lung disease.

Making a notification to the Notifiable Dust Lung Disease Register (NDLD Register) satisfies this requirement.

A prescribed medical practitioner is not required to notify the NDLD Register if they have already made a notification about a notifiable dust lung disease to the National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry. Find out about this exemption for Queensland practitioners.

Workers, their family members or their general practitioner are not required to notify the NDLD Register of a diagnosis of a notifiable dust lung disease.

Notifiable dust lung diseases

In Queensland, as outlined in the Public Health Regulation 2018, a notifiable dust lung disease is any of the following respiratory diseases caused by occupational exposure to inorganic dust:

  • lung cancer (e.g. mesothelioma)
  • chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema
  • pneumoconiosis, including
    • asbestosis
    • coal workers' pneumoconiosis
    • mixed-dust pneumoconiosis
    • silicosis.

Examples of inorganic dust include dust from silica, coal, asbestos, natural stone, tungsten, cobalt, aluminium and beryllium.

Notification exemptions

To prevent duplicate notification requirements, various exemptions (under section 279AF of the Public Health Act 2005) to the requirement to notify the NDLD Register apply.

As such, you do not need to notify the NDLD Register if you have reported a notifiable dust lung disease to:

  • the national registry
  • Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ).

The NDLD Register will be able to access relevant notifications directly from the national registry and from RSHQ.

Informing patients about mandatory reporting

If a patient is diagnosed as having a notifiable dust lung disease caused by occupational exposure to inorganic dust, you must advise the patient of your requirements to notify the NDLD Register.

Time period in which to notify

Notifications must be made within 30 days of a diagnosis.

If you fail to do so without a reasonable excuse, it is an offence under the Public Health Act and a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units may apply.

How to make a notification

If you have already made a notification about a notifiable dust lung disease to the National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry, then you are exempt from making a notification to the NDLD Register.

If you are not exempt from making a notification, you must notify the NDLD Register of a notifiable dust lung disease diagnosis in the approved form (PDF 423 kB).

To ensure the notification is securely submitted, you need to create a secure file transfer (SFT) email account.

If you have a Queensland Health email account, you can submit notifications in the approved form to the NDLD Register email address.

Create an SFT email account

Email ndldregister@health.qld.gov.au to advise you want to set up an SFT email account, ensuring you provide the email address you will be using to submit notifications.

You will then receive an email from the NDLD Register with instructions on how to set up an SFT email account (PDF 894 kB).

Submit a notification using an SFT email account

Once you have created an SFT email account and completed the notification using the approved form, you can send the notification to the NDLD Register using your SFT email account.

View instructions on how to submit a notification via an SFT email account (PDF 903 kB).

Alternatives to using an SFT email account

If you do not have a Queensland Health email account and you are unable to open or access an SFT email account, you can choose to submit your notification(s) in the approved form to the NDLD Register by:

  • fax—(07) 3328 9622 (secure locked fax)
  • registered post—
    Notifiable Dust Lung Disease Register
    Health Protection and Regulation Branch
    Department of Health
    PO Box 2368
    Fortitude Valley BC  QLD  4006

When further information is required

To ensure the accuracy of the NDLD Register, you may receive a notice requesting further information about a notification you submitted, or another health practitioner who has the information.

The notice will include the reasonable period in which the information is due. Failure to comply with this notice and provide the further information without reasonable excuse is an offence under the Act and may incur a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units.

Contact us

  • Phone: (07) 3328 9632 (Monday to Friday from 8.30am–5pm, except public holidays)
  • Fax: (07) 3328 9622
  • Email: ndldregister@health.qld.gov.au
  • Postal address:
    Notifiable Dust Lung Disease Register
    Health Protection and Regulation Branch, Department of Health
    PO Box 2368
    Fortitude Valley BC  QLD  4006

More information

Last updated: 21 March 2025