Australian Medicare Number Regex for Python

What this pattern does

This page provides a well-structured, multi-part regular expression for matching australian medicare number, ported and verified for Python. Identity and credential patterns need both correctness and safety, since they're frequent targets for adversarial input. The snippet below is ready to drop into your Python project — whether you're validating in a Django view, a FastAPI endpoint, or a standalone data processing script.

Python Implementation

# Australian Medicare Number
# ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Identity & PII > Health Identifiers

import re

australian_medicare_number_pattern = re.compile(r'^([2-6][0-9]{9})(?:\s*([1-9]))?$')

def validate_australian_medicare_number(value: str) -> bool:
    return bool(australian_medicare_number_pattern.fullmatch(value))

# Example
print(validate_australian_medicare_number("2123456701"))  # True

Test Cases

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Identity & PII > Health Identifiers category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for Python developers because particularly important in Python web servers where CPU-bound regex operations can stall concurrent request handling. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

Technical Notes

Australian Medicare numbers start with 2-6 (4=concessional). 10-digit number + 1-digit IRN (Individual Reference Number, 1-6, identifies individuals on a family card). Checksum: weighted sum of first 9 digits, compare to 10th. Services Australia assigns and validates.