Troubleshooting AIR uploads

Sometimes an upload to the AIR fails and the upload status is set to AIR Immunisation rejected. Here you can review the most common reasons why this might happen.

Tip: Any errors or warnings returned from the AIR will display a code in the format AIR-E-XXXX or AIR-W-XXXX on the File > Online Claiming > AIR Claims tab, in the HIC Status Code column. In the HIC Status Message column, a detailed, easy to understand error message is displayed from the AIR. For a list of error and warning codes, see AIR error messages.

For immunisations that were not completed and are not waiting on confirmation and have failed to upload to the AIR, check the error returned from the AIR and correct the problem in Communicare. Communicare resends any claims to the AIR for which the immunisation details or patient biographics have been updated during the interval configured in CCareQueue_ServicesAustralia, which is the last 24 hours by default.

Immunisation details are incomplete or incorrect

If a immunisation details are incorrect or invalid, correct them in the immunisation clinical item.

Table 1. Immunisation details incomplete or incorrect
Data Rule Code
Vaccine Code Must be set AIR-E-1023
Must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
Vaccine Dose Either Dose (this course) or Dose number must be set AIR-E-1024
Must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
Vaccine Batch Number If set, must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
While vaccine batch is optional, legislative change in February 2021 means it is now mandatory for users to provide the vaccine batch number when reporting a vaccination to the AIR. This field is intended to support Health efforts to identify individuals who have received a certain batch of vaccine if required. AIR-E-1016
Vaccine Serial Number If set, must be a valid format. Only alphanumeric characters and the following special characters are valid:
! " % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? _ #
 AIR-E-1016
Date of Immunisation Must be after the Individual’s date birth AIR-E-1015
Cannot be a future date AIR-E-1018
Cannot be prior to 1 Jan 1996 AIR-E-1022
Dose The dose given exceeds the maximum allowed by AIR for a course of immunisations for that vaccine
Tip: The AIR records vaccine doses at the antigen level, not the vaccine brand. Notify the AIR of a dose number based on the number of previous doses of a particular antigen. For example, if the DTP vaccine Infanrix Hexa dose 1,2 and 3 are recorded on the AIR for an individual, and DTP vaccine Tripacel is given at 18 months, Tripacel should be recorded as dose 4, because it is the fourth of a DTP-containing vaccine.
AIR-W-0105
Administered Overseas Cannot be set if the immunisation was performed here and a value was provided for the immunisation provider object (object includes provider number, HPI-I and HPI-O) AIR-E-1070
Duplicate Duplicate vaccination already exists in AIR AIR-E-0102

Provider and encounter errors

If a provider or encounter place details are incorrect or invalid, correct them in the reference tables.

Table 2. Provider and encounter errors
Data Rule Code
Information Provider Number Must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
Must be comprised of:
  • Provider Stem – a 6-digit number
  • 1 Practice Location Character
  • 1 Check Digit
If less than 8 characters, the numeric component will be filled with leading zeros prior to validation.
If using an AIR Provider Number instead, it must comprise:
  • State code – alpha in UPPERCASE
  • 5 digit number
  • Alpha in UPPERCASE check digit
  • blank
If the checks fail, an error is returned AIR-E-1017
Provider number must exist and be current at the receipt date (current date) in the AIR System AIR-E-1029
Immunisation Provider Number If set, must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
Must be comprised of:
  • Provider Stem – a 6-digit number
  • 1 Practice Location Character
  • 1 Check Digit
If less than 8 characters, the numeric component will be filled with leading zeros prior to validation.
If using an AIR Provider Number instead, it must comprise:
  • State code – alpha in UPPERCASE
  • 5 digit number
  • Alpha in UPPERCASE check digit
  • blank
Must be provided unless the encounter was given by another provider in Australia or an unknown provider. In this case, the AIR uses a generic history provider number to reflect an unknown provider was involved. This is not the information provider number in the add encounter request.
If the checks fail, an error is returned AIR-E-1017
Provider number must exist and be current at the date of service in the AIR System AIR-E-1028
HPI-O Number If set, must be 16 numeric characters AIR-E-1016
HPI-I Number If set, must be 16 numeric characters AIR-E-1016
School ID If set, must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
Must be a valid school ID AIR-E-1027
Encounter Must be a valid value AIR-E-1017
Must not be more than maxEncounter value of the claim AIR-E-1013
Must be a valid sequential ID commencing with 1. AIR-E-1041
Claim Sequence Number Must be set if Claim ID is set. This is a generated sequence, 0 - 9999 AIR-E-1034
If set, must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
Episode Must be a valid value 1-5 episodes per encounter AIR-E-1017
Must be a valid sequential ID commencing with 1 AIR-E-1014

Patient details are incomplete or invalid

If a patient's details are incorrect or invalid, correct them in the patient's biographics.

Table 3. Patient identification rules
Data Rule Error code
Combination of identifiers If individual information provided is insufficient and the minimum details required were not met, in Patient Biographics, ensure that at least one combination of the following identifiers exists and is validated:
  • Medicare Card Number, Date of Birth, Last Name
  • Date of Birth, Post Code, Last Name, First Name
  • Date of Birth, Last Name, First Name, IHI Number
  • Medicare Card Number and Medicare Card Individual Reference Number (IRN)
  • Date of Birth, Post Code, Last Name, only name indicator

The AIR prioritises field matching in the order listed. If all fields are submitted, only the minimum fields are used for matching.

This applies to adding a planned catch up and when adding an immunisation to the AIR.

AIR-E-1026 Individual information provided is insufficient
Combination of identifiers If an individual does not exist in the AIR, or a combination of the minimum requirements failed validation, an error is returned. AIR-W-1004
Combination of identifiers for new individuals Confirmation request for a new individual; minimum details not supplied. For confirmation of a new individual, the following information is required: first name, last name, date of birth, sex, address line one, locality and postcode. For more information, see Confirming immunisation claims. AIR-E-1042
Date of birth Must be in a valid format AIR-E-1016
Must be a valid date AIR-E-1017
Must not be in the future AIR-E-1018
Must not be more than 130 years in the past AIR-E-1019
Sex If set, must be either Male or Female AIR-E-1017
  • First name
  • Last name
 If included, must only contain alpha, numeric, apostrophe, space and hyphen characters. Spaces must not appear immediately before or after apostrophes and hyphens AIR-E-1016
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Status If set, must be a valid value:
  • Y - Of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent (or both)
  • N - Not of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent
  • Only stored if it is supplied, and this is a new individual
 AIR-E-1017
Address Line One If set, must be a valid format. Must only contain alpha, numeric, apostrophe, space, and hyphen characters. Spaces must not appear immediately before or after hyphens. The patient address cannot contain PO Box or c/-. AIR-E-1016
Address Line Two If set, must be a valid format. Must only contain alpha, numeric, apostrophe, space, and hyphen characters. Spaces must not appear immediately before or after hyphens. AIR-E-1016
May only be set if line one of the address details is supplied; if Address Line Two is set, Address Line One must first be set. AIR-E-1037
Postcode Must be a valid postcode AIR-E-1043
Locality Must be a valid format. The patient locality cannot be set to Other / elsewhere. AIR-E-1016
restrictions If the individual has certain restrictions on their record, an error is returned. Contact AIR for more information. AIR-E-1058
Table 4. Medicare and identification rules
Date Rule Code
Medicare Card Number If set, must be 9 numbers, and 1 card issue number AIR-E-1016
Must be set if Individual Reference Number (IRN) is set AIR-E-1020
Individual Reference Number Cannot be set to 0 AIR-E-1017
If set, must be a valid format AIR-E-1016
IHI Number If set, must be 16 numeric characters AIR-E-1016
Note: If a patient has a sibling's Medicare number recorded in Communicare, the AIR may upload an immunisation to the wrong sibling's record, despite the Medicare number failing validation. If this occurs, in the AIR portal in Communicare, the immunisation will also be displayed for the wrong sibling. To fix this problem, remove the incorrect Medicare number, which breaks the AIR link to the wrong record.

Planned catch up

If you apply for a planned catch up date, you may see the following errors

  • Where a patient is older than 20 years, a catch-up date will not be generated, and the system will return an error of AIR-E-1047
  • A catch up date is only allowed to be set once per individual
  • If the existing catch up date or a generated catch up date is in the past, a warning is returned; AIR-W-1011
  • The catch up date is calculated as today + 6 months, or patients 20th birthday; which ever is earlier
  • If the individual has certain restrictions on their record, an error of AIR-E-1067 will be returned; contact AIR for more information