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Meeting minutes template

Australian documentation guide

A meeting record with separate attendance, discussion, decision and action sections. Suitable for a practice or multidisciplinary meeting when the record needs to show what was agreed and who owns each next step.

The blank template

How to fill it in

  1. Copy the blank template into your record system.
  2. Fill in what was discussed or assessed. Keep uncertainty visible, and use [not stated] where required information is missing.
  3. Check the details and any gaps before saving or sharing. The clinician must explicitly confirm any generated content.

Attendees

Record who attended and the roles or representation stated in the meeting. Distinguish attendance for part of a meeting from attendance throughout. Do not infer a participant’s role from their name or email address.

Include apologies actually received within Attendees, separately from people who were simply absent. An invitation is not evidence of attendance; an empty list is not evidence that nobody sent apologies.

Summary

State the meeting’s purpose, scope and main topics. Keep a concise summary distinct from the decisions and action list. Avoid unnecessary identifiable clinical detail, especially where minutes circulate beyond the clinical team.

Discussion

Summarise the matters discussed and relevant differing views, attributing a statement when attribution matters and is established. “Discussed”, “raised”, “queried” and “deferred” do not imply agreement. Preserve unresolved questions rather than smoothing them into consensus.

Decisions

Record decisions explicitly made, their scope and any stated qualification. Distinguish an agreed decision from an option considered or a matter awaiting approval. Do not convert the most confident speaker’s view into a group decision.

Action items

Record each agreed action, its named owner and stated due date or review point. Mark ownership or timing as unstated when absent. Distinguish assigned, in progress and completed status only when established; the template does not create a task commitment.

Common omissions

Partial attendance, decisions deferred for approval and action owners are often lost in a narrative summary. Clinical detail should be limited to what the meeting record actually requires and its audience is permitted to receive.

Review before saving

Check that discussion, decisions and actions remain separate, that attribution is supported, and that owners and dates were explicitly agreed. Review access and circulation under local policy before sharing minutes.

Worked examples

Practice meeting about record-transfer requests

Fictional example. Made up for this guide; no patient record was used. It shows how to write a record, with gaps left visible. It is not a care plan or a record to copy into someone's chart.

ATTENDEES: Practice manager, reception lead and clinical lead. Apologies: Nursing lead.
SUMMARY: The team reviewed how patient-authorised record-transfer requests are checked and sent.
DISCUSSION: Reception lead described inconsistent recording of the destination practice. Clinical lead requested a visible record of the person’s authorisation.
DECISIONS: Team agreed that the receiving practice and recorded authorisation will be checked before a transfer is sent.
ACTION ITEMS: Reception lead: update the transfer-request checklist by the next practice meeting. Practice manager: bring a sample of completed requests to that meeting for review.

An administrative practice meeting

Fictional example. Made up for this guide; no patient record was used. It shows how to write a record, with gaps left visible. It is not a care plan or a record to copy into someone's chart.

ATTENDEES: Practice manager and reception lead. Apologies: None stated.
SUMMARY: Review of the practice's records-transfer administration.
DISCUSSION: The team discussed adding a receiving-practice check to the existing transfer checklist.
DECISIONS: The team agreed to revise the checklist for internal review.
ACTION ITEMS: Practice manager to prepare the revision. Due date not stated.

Related templates

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Approved for publication by Tyson, 4 October 2026

Sources

Free to copy and adapt this template and guide, including for use in your practice. Sources linked above retain their own terms.

Use this guide to help write the record. It provides no clinical advice. The clinician remains responsible for checking that the record is accurate and complete. Check Medicare requirements, statutory forms and local policies separately.