PMHC-MDS Data Specification

Version 4.1.1

Warning

Version 4.1 is no longer supported. Its end-of-life was 30 June 2026.

Uploads are no longer accepted in the 4.1 format.

Version 5.0 uploads have been accepted since December 2025.

Getting Help

A dedicated Help Desk is available to support Primary Health Networks and Provider Organisations implementing PMHC in relation to the minimum dataset system. All enquiries should be directed to: support@pmhc-mds.com.

Table of contents

• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Contexts
    • 1.1.1. Intake Context
    • 1.1.2. Treatment Service Provider Context
    • 1.1.3. Combined Intake/Treatment Context
  • 1.2. New Records and Fields in Version 4
    • 1.2.1. Intake
    • 1.2.2. IAR-DST Measure
    • 1.2.3. Episode and Intake Episode
    • 1.2.4. Entering/Uploading Intake and Episode data
    • 1.2.5. Service Contact
    • 1.2.6. Service Contact Practitioner
  • 1.3. Data release and confidentiality
• 2. Changes from Version 4.1
  • 2.1. Steps required to upgrade to Version 4.1.1 uploads
• 3. Reporting arrangements
  • 3.1. Reporting data
  • 3.2. Reporting timeliness
  • 3.3. Inputs to help replicate system generated reports
  • 3.4. Support arrangements
• 4. Identifier management
  • 4.1. Managing Provider Organisation Keys
  • 4.2. Managing Client Keys
  • 4.3. Managing all other entity keys
• 5. Data model and specifications
  • 5.1. Data model
  • 5.2. Key concepts
    • 5.2.1. Primary Health Network
    • 5.2.2. Provider Organisation
    • 5.2.3. Site
    • 5.2.4. Practitioner
    • 5.2.5. Client
    • 5.2.6. Intake
    • 5.2.7. Intake Episode
    • 5.2.8. Episode
    • 5.2.9. Service Contact
    • 5.2.10. Service Contact Practitioner
    • 5.2.11. Collection Occasion
  • 5.3. Record formats
    • 5.3.1. Metadata
    • 5.3.2. Provider Organisation
    • 5.3.3. Practitioner
    • 5.3.4. Client
    • 5.3.5. Intake
    • 5.3.6. Intake Episode
    • 5.3.7. Episode
    • 5.3.8. Service Contact
    • 5.3.9. Service Contact Practitioner
    • 5.3.10. Collection Occasion
    • 5.3.11. Measures
  • 5.4. Definitions
    • 5.4.1. ABN
    • 5.4.2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Status
    • 5.4.3. Active
    • 5.4.4. Additional Diagnosis
    • 5.4.5. Area of usual residence, postcode
    • 5.4.6. ATSI Cultural Training
    • 5.4.7. Client Consent to Anonymised Data
    • 5.4.8. Client Gender
    • 5.4.9. Client Key
    • 5.4.10. Client Participation Indicator
    • 5.4.11. Client Tags
    • 5.4.12. Collection Occasion Date
    • 5.4.13. Collection Occasion Key
    • 5.4.14. Collection Occasion Reason
    • 5.4.15. Collection Occasion Tags
    • 5.4.16. Copayment
    • 5.4.17. Country of Birth
    • 5.4.18. Date client contacted Intake
    • 5.4.19. Date of Birth
    • 5.4.20. Date referred to other service at Intake conclusion
    • 5.4.21. Duration
    • 5.4.22. Employment Participation
    • 5.4.23. Episode Completion Status
    • 5.4.24. Episode End Date
    • 5.4.25. Episode Key
    • 5.4.26. Episode Organisation Path
    • 5.4.27. Episode Tags
    • 5.4.28. Estimated Date of Birth Flag
    • 5.4.29. Final Service Contact
    • 5.4.30. Funding Source
    • 5.4.31. GP Mental Health Treatment Plan Flag
    • 5.4.32. Health Care Card
    • 5.4.33. Homelessness Flag
    • 5.4.34. IAR-DST - Domain 1
    • 5.4.35. IAR-DST - Domain 2
    • 5.4.36. IAR-DST - Domain 3
    • 5.4.37. IAR-DST - Domain 4
    • 5.4.38. IAR-DST - Domain 5
    • 5.4.39. IAR-DST - Domain 6
    • 5.4.40. IAR-DST - Domain 7
    • 5.4.41. IAR-DST - Domain 8
    • 5.4.42. IAR-DST - Practitioner Level of Care
    • 5.4.43. IAR-DST - Recommended Level of Care
    • 5.4.44. IAR-DST - Tags
    • 5.4.45. IAR-DST - Version
    • 5.4.46. Intake Key
    • 5.4.47. Intake Organisation Path
    • 5.4.48. Intake Tags
    • 5.4.49. Interpreter Used
    • 5.4.50. Key
    • 5.4.51. K5 - Question 1
    • 5.4.52. K5 - Question 2
    • 5.4.53. K5 - Question 3
    • 5.4.54. K5 - Question 4
    • 5.4.55. K5 - Question 5
    • 5.4.56. K5 - Score
    • 5.4.57. K5 - Tags
    • 5.4.58. K10+ - Question 1
    • 5.4.59. K10+ - Question 2
    • 5.4.60. K10+ - Question 3
    • 5.4.61. K10+ - Question 4
    • 5.4.62. K10+ - Question 5
    • 5.4.63. K10+ - Question 6
    • 5.4.64. K10+ - Question 7
    • 5.4.65. K10+ - Question 8
    • 5.4.66. K10+ - Question 9
    • 5.4.67. K10+ - Question 10
    • 5.4.68. K10+ - Question 11
    • 5.4.69. K10+ - Question 12
    • 5.4.70. K10+ - Question 13
    • 5.4.71. K10+ - Question 14
    • 5.4.72. K10+ - Score
    • 5.4.73. K10+ - Tags
    • 5.4.74. Labour Force Status
    • 5.4.75. Legal Name
    • 5.4.76. Main Language Spoken at Home
    • 5.4.77. Marital Status
    • 5.4.78. Measure Key
    • 5.4.79. Medication - Antidepressants (N06A)
    • 5.4.80. Medication - Antipsychotics (N05A)
    • 5.4.81. Medication - Anxiolytics (N05B)
    • 5.4.82. Medication - Hypnotics and sedatives (N05C)
    • 5.4.83. Medication - Psychostimulants and nootropics (N06B)
    • 5.4.84. Modality
    • 5.4.85. Name
    • 5.4.86. NDIS Participant
    • 5.4.87. No Show
    • 5.4.88. Organisation End Date
    • 5.4.89. Organisation Key
    • 5.4.90. Organisation Path
    • 5.4.91. Organisation Start Date
    • 5.4.92. Organisation Tags
    • 5.4.93. Organisation Type
    • 5.4.94. Organisation type referred to at Episode conclusion
    • 5.4.95. Organisation type referred to at Intake conclusion
    • 5.4.96. Participants
    • 5.4.97. Postcode
    • 5.4.98. Practitioner Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Status
    • 5.4.99. Practitioner Category
    • 5.4.100. Practitioner Gender
    • 5.4.101. Practitioner Key
    • 5.4.102. Practitioner Tags
    • 5.4.103. Primary Practitioner Indicator
    • 5.4.104. Principal Diagnosis
    • 5.4.105. Principal Focus of Treatment Plan
    • 5.4.106. Proficiency in Spoken English
    • 5.4.107. Program Type
    • 5.4.108. Referral Date
    • 5.4.109. Referred to Organisation Path
    • 5.4.110. Referrer Organisation Type
    • 5.4.111. Referrer Profession
    • 5.4.112. SDQ Collection Occasion - Version
    • 5.4.113. SDQ - Conduct Problem Scale
    • 5.4.114. SDQ - Emotional Symptoms Scale
    • 5.4.115. SDQ - Hyperactivity Scale
    • 5.4.116. SDQ - Impact Score
    • 5.4.117. SDQ - Peer Problem Scale
    • 5.4.118. SDQ - Prosocial Scale
    • 5.4.119. SDQ - Question 1
    • 5.4.120. SDQ - Question 2
    • 5.4.121. SDQ - Question 3
    • 5.4.122. SDQ - Question 4
    • 5.4.123. SDQ - Question 5
    • 5.4.124. SDQ - Question 6
    • 5.4.125. SDQ - Question 7
    • 5.4.126. SDQ - Question 8
    • 5.4.127. SDQ - Question 9
    • 5.4.128. SDQ - Question 10
    • 5.4.129. SDQ - Question 11
    • 5.4.130. SDQ - Question 12
    • 5.4.131. SDQ - Question 13
    • 5.4.132. SDQ - Question 14
    • 5.4.133. SDQ - Question 15
    • 5.4.134. SDQ - Question 16
    • 5.4.135. SDQ - Question 17
    • 5.4.136. SDQ - Question 18
    • 5.4.137. SDQ - Question 19
    • 5.4.138. SDQ - Question 20
    • 5.4.139. SDQ - Question 21
    • 5.4.140. SDQ - Question 22
    • 5.4.141. SDQ - Question 23
    • 5.4.142. SDQ - Question 24
    • 5.4.143. SDQ - Question 25
    • 5.4.144. SDQ - Question 26
    • 5.4.145. SDQ - Question 27
    • 5.4.146. SDQ - Question 28
    • 5.4.147. SDQ - Question 29
    • 5.4.148. SDQ - Question 30
    • 5.4.149. SDQ - Question 31
    • 5.4.150. SDQ - Question 32
    • 5.4.151. SDQ - Question 33
    • 5.4.152. SDQ - Question 34
    • 5.4.153. SDQ - Question 35
    • 5.4.154. SDQ - Question 36
    • 5.4.155. SDQ - Question 37
    • 5.4.156. SDQ - Question 38
    • 5.4.157. SDQ - Question 39
    • 5.4.158. SDQ - Question 40
    • 5.4.159. SDQ - Question 41
    • 5.4.160. SDQ - Question 42
    • 5.4.161. SDQ - Tags
    • 5.4.162. SDQ - Total Difficulties Score
    • 5.4.163. Service Contact Date
    • 5.4.164. Service Contact Key
    • 5.4.165. Service Contact Practitioner Key
    • 5.4.166. Service Contact Site
    • 5.4.167. Service Contact Tags
    • 5.4.168. Service Contact Type
    • 5.4.169. Sites
    • 5.4.170. Source of Cash Income
    • 5.4.171. Start Time
    • 5.4.172. State
    • 5.4.173. Statistical Linkage Key
    • 5.4.174. Suicide Referral Flag
    • 5.4.175. Value
    • 5.4.176. Venue
    • 5.4.177. Year of Birth
  • 5.5. Download Specification Files
• 6. Upload specification
  • 6.1. File requirements
    • 6.1.1. Excel Workbook (XLSX)
    • 6.1.2. Zip file containing Comma Separated Values (CSV)
    • 6.1.3. File size
  • 6.2. Files or worksheets to upload
    • 6.2.1. Files/worksheets for the Intake context
    • 6.2.2. Files/worksheets for the Treatment Service Provider context
    • 6.2.3. Files/worksheets for the Combined Intake/Treatment Service Provider context
  • 6.3. File format
    • 6.3.1. Metadata file
    • 6.3.2. Organisation file format
    • 6.3.3. Client format
    • 6.3.4. Intake format
    • 6.3.5. IAR-DST format
    • 6.3.6. Intake Episode format
    • 6.3.7. Episode file format
    • 6.3.8. Service Contact file format
    • 6.3.9. Service Contact Practitioner file format
    • 6.3.10. Collection Occasion file format
    • 6.3.11. K10+ file format
    • 6.3.12. K5 file format
    • 6.3.13. SDQ file format
    • 6.3.14. Practitioner file format
  • 6.4. Example Upload files
  • 6.5. Deleting records
  • 6.6. Frequently Asked Questions
• 7. Data item summary
• 8. Using the data specification to create client forms
  • 8.1. Not stated/missing codes
  • 8.2. Country of Birth
    • 8.2.1. Detailed question module
    • 8.2.2. Short question module
  • 8.3. Main Language Spoken at Home
    • 8.3.1. Detailed question module
    • 8.3.2. Short question module
• 9. Validation Rules
  • 9.1. Current Validations
    • 9.1.1. Keys
    • 9.1.2. Practitioner
    • 9.1.3. Client
    • 9.1.4. Intake
    • 9.1.5. IAR-DST
    • 9.1.6. Intake - Episode
    • 9.1.7. Episode
    • 9.1.8. Service Contact
    • 9.1.9. Service Contact Practitioner
    • 9.1.10. Collection Occasion
    • 9.1.11. K10+
    • 9.1.12. K5
    • 9.1.13. SDQ
    • 9.1.14. Organisation
• 10. Test Data Sets
• 11. Reserved Tags
• 12. Data Security and Privacy
• 13. Data Specification Change log
  • 13.1. 12/9/2025
  • 13.2. 18/8/2025 - 4.1.1
  • 13.3. 24/4/2025
  • 13.4. 17/10/2024
  • 13.5. 6/9/2024 - Draft 4.1.0

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