AURA is Australia’s national program for surveillance of antimicrobial use and resistance in human health. The Australian Government funds it, including the key surveillance groups and systems (AURA program partners) that contribute to it. These are listed below.
Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Australia (AURA)
What it is
AURA is Australia’s first nationally coordinated surveillance program for gathering data on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health.
Why it’s important
This program gives us the picture of antimicrobial use and resistance across Australia. It allows us to:
- detect emerging resistance and trends
- see links between antibiotic use and resistance
- know where we need to act to address the misuse of antimicrobials.
This helps us to:
- raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance among the public
- promote the appropriate use of antimicrobials (especially antibiotics)
- stop antimicrobial resistance from getting worse.
Who is involved
The Australian Government funds AURA and the key surveillance groups and programs (AURA program partners) that collect and report to it. It has been managed by the:
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care – from its establishment in 2014 until 31 December 2020
- Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025
- Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) – from 1 January 2026 to today.
How it works
AURA program partners collect and report on data from hospitals, aged care homes, laboratories, and the community. This provides a national picture of antimicrobial use and resistance.
How AURA fits into the bigger picture
AURA data are analysed and published in national AURA reports to show how antimicrobials are used and where resistance is emerging in Australia. The findings help guide prescribing, support stewardship and infection prevention efforts, and strengthen the evidence the Australian CDC uses to provide expert advice.
Find out more
Learn more by reading the Sixth Australian report on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health, 2026. It covers antimicrobial use and resistance and the appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing in Australia.
Previous National AURA reports and reports on antimicrobial use and appropriateness in the community are available from:
Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR)
What it is
AGAR is a collaboration of clinicians and scientists from key microbiology laboratories around Australia that conducts targeted AMR surveillance on bacteria known to cause important and life-threatening infections.
It has gathered information on the level of AMR in bacteria since 1985.
Why it’s important
The data collected allow for better use of antibiotics based on known Australia-wide resistance patterns. AGAR surveillance has been central to understanding long‑term trends in key hospital pathogens, including methicillin‑resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin‑resistant enterococci (VRE).
Who is involved
The Australian Society for Antimicrobials (ASA) coordinates AGAR. Approximately 40 laboratories provide data and samples on bloodstream infections caused by 3 particularly dangerous groups of bacteria to AGAR-coordinating laboratories.
How it works
The coordinating laboratories undertake molecular testing on samples and provide their findings to AGAR.
Reports are then prepared by AGAR for each of the 3 groups of bacteria. Each report is part of a separate AGAR program:
- Australian Staphylococcus aureus Surveillance Outcome Program (ASSOP)
- Australian Enterococcal Surveillance Outcome Program (AESOP)
- Gram-negative Surveillance Outcome Program (GNSOP)
AGAR publishes annual reports on the outcomes of these surveys, as well as a range of articles and presentations on findings, including in the Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal.
Find out more
Read the AGAR reports.
National Antimicrobial Utilisation Surveillance Program (NAUSP)
What it is
SA Health established NAUSP in 2004 to monitor the consumption of antimicrobials in Australian public and private hospitals.
Why it’s important
NAUSP is an important tool to support antimicrobial stewardship in hospitals. The program publishes reports on antimicrobial usage twice a year.
Who is involved
SA Health administers the program. Nearly 300 public and private hospitals from all states and territories voluntarily contribute antimicrobial usage data to it.
How it works
It works by providing hospitals with information on their use of antimicrobials. This tells them about potential overuse or unexpected changes in use.
Participating hospitals can get reports on their usage rates at any time.
Find out more
View all NAUSP annual reports.
National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS)
What it is
NAPS collects data on how Australian hospitals and aged care homes prescribe antimicrobial medications.
Why it’s important
Through NAPS, hospitals and aged care homes can check their prescribing for appropriateness and compliance with guidelines. They use this information to:
- benchmark their performance contribute to reports about
- national trends identify key targets for action in their prescribing behaviours.
Who is involved
A multidisciplinary team from the Royal Melbourne Hospital together with the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship at the Doherty Institute run this program.
The modules currently contributing to the AURA surveillance program are:
- Hospital NAPS
- Surgical NAPS
- Aged Care NAPS
- Antifungal NAPS.
How it works
NAPS is an online survey for hospitals and aged care settings. It supports antimicrobial stewardship programs by giving participating centres an online tool to view and explore their own prescribing data.
Find out more
See the latest NAPS reports and data:
See previous annual reports, and related publications.
Australian Passive AMR Surveillance (APAS)
What it is
APAS collects, analyses and reports on de-identified patient-level AMR data.
Why it’s important
APAS provides the largest volume of resistance surveillance data to AURA. By December 2025, it had captured over 135 million antimicrobial susceptibility results.
These data provide access to geographical and organism-related trends in resistance. They inform response strategies at local, state, and national levels.
Who is involved
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care established the APAS System in 2015. It has enhanced it over time.
Public and private pathology services across Australia voluntarily contribute these data. Several pathology services capture statewide data through their information systems.
How it works
Participating laboratories can access their own data to prepare local reports. This helps them support their antimicrobial stewardship and infection-prevention programs.
Find out more
APAS data analyses have been published in the:
APAS technical reports include:
- An update of resistance trends in multidrug-resistant organisms – 2006 to 2023
- Trends in macrolide resistance in Streptococcus agalactiae and Streptococcus pyogenes – 2006 to 2023
More information about APAS, and access to the interactive APAS Data Explorer, is available from Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
National Alert System for Critical Antimicrobial Resistances (CARAlert)
What it is
CARAlert collects data on nationally agreed priority organisms with critical resistances known to present a serious threat to the effectiveness of last-line antimicrobials.
Why it’s important
Monitoring and regular reporting of critical antimicrobial resistances in Australia provide timely information to support:
- clinicians
- policy makers
- system managers.
This information informs actions that help to prevent and contain AMR outbreaks.
Who is involved
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care established CARAlert in 2016.
Public and private health services across Australia provide data for it.
How it works
Services voluntarily provide de-identified details of confirmed critical antimicrobial resistances to the CARAlert web portal.
Find out more
Learn more about CARAlert by seeing the CARAlert reports, and accessing the interactive CARAlert Data Explorer, available from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
HOTspots pilot
What it is
HOTspots is an online AMR surveillance tool managed by the CSIRO. It currently operates across regional and remote areas of northern Australia.
Why it’s important
The HOTspots tool aims to provide local and timely AMR data to help healthcare professionals make antibiotic choices for patients based on evidence.
Who is involved
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing piloted the HOTspots program as part of the AURA surveillance program in 2022–23, and the Australian Centre for Disease Control is purchasing some HOTspots data in 2025–26.
HOTspots data have been available to clinicians in regional and remote areas of northern Australia since January 2019. The data are being widely used across hospitals and clinics in these locations. Data from HOTspots were included in the:
How it works
Pathology providers across regional and remote areas of northern Australia provide data on antimicrobial resistant infections they process. The HOTspots tool formats the data for practitioners to access. Practitioners can then survey the resistant microbes that may be prevalent in their region. This helps them choose the most appropriate treatment for their patients.
Find out more
Learn more by visiting the HOTspots digital platform.
Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS)
What it is
GLASS is the first global system to collect official national AMR data on selected organisms that cause common infections in humans.
Why it’s important
GLASS aims to support the implementation of the WHO Global Action Plan on AMR.
Data from GLASS help inform national, regional, and global decision-making, strategies, and advocacy.
Who is involved
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched GLASS in 2015. Australia joined GLASS-AMR in 2019 and contributes AMR data each year.
In 2025 Australia submitted AMR data on the following organisms:
- Acinetobacter spp.
- Escherichia coli
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Klebsiella pneumoniae
- Neisseria meningitidis
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Salmonella spp. (non typhoidal)
- Salmonella Typhi
- Salmonella Paratyphi
- Shigella spp
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Streptococcus pneumoniae
Data came from all 4 GLASS priority specimen sites:
- blood
- CSF
- urogenital
- pharyngeal
- anorectal
- urine
- stool
- lower respiratory tract.
Data were sourced from the:
- Australian Passive AMR Surveillance (APAS) system
- Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR)
- Australian Meningococcal Surveillance Program (AMSP)
- Australian Gonococcal Surveillance Program (AGSP)
How it works
Participating countries choose which AMR and antimicrobial usage information they report according to their own priorities.
The WHO regularly reviews and expands the list of organisms, specimens, and antimicrobials.
Find out more
Learn more by viewing WHO’s GLASS content.