Asthma action plans: a practical guide for you, your family and your child’s school

An asthma action plan is an important tool that prepares you, and the people around you, to recognise when your asthma is getting worse and to know what to do about it.² It sets out your usual medicines, the steps to take as symptoms change, and when to get urgent help. Importantly, an asthma action plan is something you put together with your doctor to ensure the plan is tailored to your experience with asthma.^{2, 19}

Just under 2.8 million people in Australia, about 10.8 per cent of the population, reported having asthma in 2022.¹ National guidelines recommend that every one of them has a personalised written plan.² In the same survey, only 32 per cent of people with asthma said they had one.³

Overview

• Everyone with asthma, at any age, is recommended to have a written action plan. reviewed at least once a year by your GP and whenever treatment or symptoms change.^{2, 4}
• If your child has asthma, their school or childcare service needs a copy. So do the people who look after them.^{5, 14, 15}
• Check your reliever’s expiry date and dose counter, and keep it below the recommended temperature.⁹
• Some inhalers can be washed and some must stay dry. It depends on the type.¹⁰
• Since September 2025, Australian guidelines no longer recommend a blue or grey reliever puffer (such as Ventolin) on its own for adults and adolescents, so your reliever may now be a different inhaler.⁷

What goes into your plan

For adults and adolescents, the Australian Asthma Handbook recommends your plan covers four things:²

• Your usual medicines, for asthma and for allergies.
• What to do when symptoms get worse, including how much more reliever to take, and when and how to start a short course of steroid tablets.
• When and how to get medical help, including in an emergency.
• Who wrote it, and when.

A child’s plan works the same way. It describes the early signs, such as needing more of the reliever inhaler than usual, waking at night with asthma, or asthma getting in the way of play or sport, and what to do if things get much worse.⁴

Your plan is built around your medicines and your level of risk, which is why no two plans are quite the same.² The templates from the National Asthma Council and Asthma Australia include everything that is needed once your doctor fills them in.⁵ Asthma Australia’s asthma action plan is suitable for both adults and children, is accepted by schools and childcare services, and comes in colour and black and white versions to download and take to your appointment.¹⁴

Things to talk through when your plan is written or updated

1. Which inhaler is your reliever. Your reliever is the inhaler you reach for when symptoms start. In September 2025 the National Asthma Council updated the national guidelines. They now recommend that health professionals stop prescribing or advising a blue or grey reliever puffer, such as a Ventolin puffer, on its own for adults and adolescents, because it eases symptoms without treating the inflammation underneath.⁷ For people over 12, the guidelines recommend a combination inhaler that contains an inhaled corticosteroid as well as a fast-acting reliever. Depending on your plan, it is used only when you need it, or every day as well as when you need it.¹⁸ If your plan was written before the change, your next review is a good time to talk about which reliever suits you.
2. How much to take when things get worse. This depends on your reliever. With a blue or grey reliever, the plan usually increases how many puffs you take each time symptoms come on. With a combination inhaler, the plan usually sets a maximum number of inhalations in a day, and tells you to see a doctor or go to an emergency department if you need more than that.²
3. Steroid tablets. Adult and adolescent plans include when to start a short course of oral corticosteroid tablets.² Your doctor can make sure you have a script for anything your plan relies on, and talk through what to keep at home and when to fill a script, for example before you travel.² Whether you keep tablets ready to start, or start them only after seeing a health professional, depends on your age, how confident you are managing your asthma, and how easily you can get to a pharmacy.²
4. Allergies. If you have had anaphylaxis, or have relevant allergies, the guidelines recommend a separate anaphylaxis plan as well.²
5. A plan you can easily read. Plans are available in a range of community languages, and a picture based plan is an option if a written one is hard to read.²
6. Triggers. For a child’s school plan, Asthma Australia suggests filling in the triggers section, as it helps the school plan ahead and assess risk.¹⁴

Who needs to know your plan

The people you live with. Asthma Australia recommends that your family and carers understand how to use your plan, so they can help during a flare up or an attack. Keep it somewhere easy to find: on the fridge, or wherever your inhalers are stored.¹⁴

Your child’s school or childcare. Schools and childcare services must be given a copy of a child’s plan, and childcare services need it before your child starts.⁵ Schools use it to work out how staff will support your child, so if the plan changes, they need the new one.⁵ In New South Wales, parents and carers must let the school know if their child has asthma, and every school first aid kit should hold a reliever, a spacer and an asthma first aid chart.⁶ Requirements vary between states and sectors, so your school or service will tell you how they handle it.

Everyone else who looks after your child. Teachers, sports coaches, grandparents and babysitters. Asthma Australia suggests giving each of them a copy, so anyone caring for your child is ready if a flare up happens on their watch.¹⁵

Work. This one is up to you. The Better Health Channel suggests sharing your plan with someone at work may help, particularly if you have questions or concerns about asthma in your workplace.⁵

Hospital and other doctors. If you or your child are admitted to hospital or seen in an emergency department, giving staff a copy of your plan is very important.⁵

Your reliever puffer: what to check, and when

The consumer medicine information for blue or grey salbutamol puffers sold in Australia, including Ventolin, points to three simple checks.^{9, 20}

1. The expiry date. Once the date on the inhaler has passed, it shouldn’t be used.⁹
2. The dose counter. Each puff counts down by one. Dropping the inhaler can sometimes count one off too.⁹ When the counter gets close to zero, it’s time to get a new one. Once it reads 000, any puffs left aren’t enough for a proper dose.⁹
3. Where you keep it. Below 30 degrees Celsius.⁹ An older version of the consumer medicine information also advised against leaving it in the car.¹⁶

Good moments to check are when you fill a new script, before you travel, after an asthma attack, and when your child’s school asks for an updated plan. If your reliever is a combination inhaler, its own consumer medicine information explains its counter and storage.

A spacer helps. A spacer is the tube that attaches to your puffer. It gives the medicine room to slow down, so more of it reaches your lungs and less stays in your mouth and throat.¹¹ The National Asthma Council recommends one for anyone using a blue or grey reliever puffer, anyone using a corticosteroid preventer puffer, all children aged 4 and under, and anyone who finds it hard to press and breathe in at the same time.¹¹ It also notes that a puffer with a spacer works as well as a nebuliser, including during an attack.¹¹

How to clean your inhaler and spacer

Each inhaler comes with its own cleaning instructions, and they differ by type.¹⁰

• Blue or grey reliever puffer (such as Ventolin). Take the metal canister out, then wash the plastic case about once a week. Let it dry completely before you use it again. The canister itself never needs cleaning.¹⁰
• Puffers that contain a corticosteroid. This includes preventer puffers and combination puffers. Never wash these. If the mouthpiece needs it, wipe it with a dry tissue.¹⁰
• Dry powder inhalers. Keep these dry too, and never wash them. A dry tissue on the mouthpiece is enough.¹⁰ One capsule style dry powder inhaler is the exception and needs washing at least monthly, so follow the instructions in its pack.¹⁰
• Spacers. The National Asthma Council recommends cleaning your spacer once a week, and again after you’ve recovered from a cold or chest infection.¹¹

1. Take it apart, if it comes apart.
2. Wash all the parts in clean warm water with a little dishwashing liquid.
3. Leave them to air dry, without rinsing. Drying with a tea towel or paper towel builds up static inside, and the medicine then sticks to the sides.
4. Wipe any detergent off the mouthpiece if needed.
5. Put it back together once it’s completely dry.¹¹

A spacer can go a little cloudy over time, but it shouldn’t be mouldy or brown. Replace it after 12 months of use, or as the maker advises, and have a pharmacist, nurse or asthma educator check it every 6 to 12 months for cracks and a working valve. Disposable cardboard spacers don’t need cleaning.¹¹

When it’s empty. Empty inhalers can go in the general rubbish, and the plastic case can go in household recycling. If you’re not sure it’s empty, your pharmacy can dispose of it safely.¹⁰

Asthma first aid

Someone may need asthma first aid if they suddenly find it hard to breathe, can’t talk normally or are coughing, wheezing or feeling tight in the chest.¹²

With a blue or grey reliever puffer, such as Ventolin, the four steps are:^{13, 17}

1. Sit the person upright. Stay calm and stay with them.
2. Give 4 separate puffs of the reliever. Shake the puffer, put 1 puff into the spacer, and have the person take 4 breaths from the spacer. Repeat until 4 puffs have been taken.
3. Wait 4 minutes. If there’s no improvement, give 4 more separate puffs the same way.
4. Still no improvement? Call Triple Zero (000) and say someone is having an asthma attack. Keep giving 4 separate puffs every 4 minutes until help arrives.

Call Triple Zero (000) straight away if the person isn’t breathing, if their asthma suddenly gets worse or isn’t improving, if there’s no reliever available, or if you’re not sure it’s asthma.¹⁷ If the person is known to have anaphylaxis, follow their anaphylaxis action plan first, then give asthma first aid.¹⁷ Reliever medicine is unlikely to do harm even if the person doesn’t have asthma.¹²

If your reliever is a combination inhaler, the first aid steps are different for your device. The National Asthma Council has a separate chart for these inhalers.¹²

When your asthma might need a closer look

Well controlled asthma, as the National Asthma Council describes it, means no symptoms at night or on waking, no need for your reliever, nothing you can’t do because of asthma, no days off school or work, and no flare ups or attacks.⁸

If you’re regularly waking with asthma, or using your reliever more than 2 to 3 times a week (other than before exercise), the National Asthma Council says that shouldn’t be accepted as a normal part of life with asthma. It’s a reason to book an asthma review.⁸ The national guidelines say the same about symptoms on more than 2 days a week, any limits on what you can do, or any symptoms at night or on waking over several weeks.²

How your GP helps

Your GP writes your plan with you, and stays involved after that.¹⁹

A yearly review. The National Asthma Council recommends an asthma review every year. It’s a chance to talk about your symptoms and anything that’s changed, check your medicines are still right for you, check your inhaler technique so the medicine reaches your lungs, and update your plan.⁸

A look back at the last month. At a review your doctor will ask about the past 4 weeks: how many days you had symptoms, how often you used your reliever, whether asthma affected work, school or sport, whether you had symptoms at night or on waking, smoking or vaping, and any side effects from your medicines.⁸

Keeping your plan current. The guidelines recommend reviewing your plan every year, and whenever your treatment or your asthma changes significantly.² Your doctor will check that you know where your plan is, whether you’ve used it and found it easy to follow, whether your medicines and instructions are still right, and whether the contact details for medical and emergency care are current.²

Making sure you have what you need. Your GP can write scripts for anything your plan relies on, and explain what to carry with you and when to fill them.²

Related conditions. Some people with asthma also have hay fever or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The National Asthma Council notes that treating both matters, because looking after one can help with the other.⁸

If you don’t have a written asthma action plan, or yours was from a while ago, your GP can write or update it with you. If your child has asthma, the copy at school or childcare is most useful when it matches their current plan. And your reliever and spacer take a minute to check: the expiry date, the dose counter, where it’s kept, and whether the spacer is clean.

If you’re interested in updating your asthma action plan, book an appointment with your Qualitas Medical Practice GP.

FIND A PRACTICE

This article provides general information only and is not a substitute for advice about your own health. Please speak with your GP about your individual circumstances. In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

---

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Asthma, 2022. National Health Survey 2022. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/asthma/2022
2. National Asthma Council Australia. Australian Asthma Handbook, Version 3.0. Educating adults and adolescents to manage their asthma. https://www.asthmahandbook.org.au/management/adults-and-adolescents/principles-of-management/educating-adults-and-adolescents-to-self-manage-asthma
3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Asthma. Chronic respiratory conditions. AIHW, 2026. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-respiratory-conditions/asthma-1
4. National Asthma Council Australia. Australian Asthma Handbook. Educating parents and children to manage asthma (children 6 to 11 years). https://www.asthmahandbook.org.au/management/children/education
5. Victorian Department of Health, Better Health Channel. Asthma action plans. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionandtreatments/asthma-action-plans
6. NSW Department of Education. Health conditions: asthma. https://education.nsw.gov.au/schooling/parents-and-carers/health-and-physical-care/health-conditions
7. National Asthma Council Australia. New guidelines state SABA inadequate treatment for asthma. Media release, 16 September 2025. https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/news/2025/new-guidelines-state-saba-inadequate-treatment-for-asthma
8. National Asthma Council Australia. Asthma review. https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/living-with-asthma/asthma-review
9. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Medicine Finder. Consumer Medicine Information: salbutamol CFC free inhaler (with counter). https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/medicine-finder/zempreon-cfc-free-inhaler-with-counter
10. National Asthma Council Australia. Puffer and inhaler care (fact sheet, last reviewed 1 June 2019). https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/resources/puffer-and-inhaler-care 
11. National Asthma Council Australia. Spacer use and care (fact sheet, last reviewed 8 July 2025). https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/resources/spacer-use-and-care
12. National Asthma Council Australia. Asthma first aid. https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/asthma-first-aid
13. Victorian Department of Health, Better Health Channel. Asthma emergency first aid. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/ConditionsAndTreatments/asthma-emergency-first-aid
14. Asthma Australia. Asthma action plan. https://asthma.org.au/manage-asthma/asthma-action-plan/
15. Asthma Australia. Asthma action plans for kids. https://asthma.org.au/kids/ongoing-care/asthma-action-plans/
16. NPS MedicineWise (archived). Consumer Medicine Information: salbutamol CFC free inhaler (with counter), earlier version. https://www.nps.org.au/assets/medicines/8b764bd9-5898-46f3-b152-ae1900d8d57e-reduced.pdf 
17. Victorian Government. 4 steps of asthma first aid (poster). https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-10/4-steps-of-asthma-first-aid-A3.pdf
18. National Asthma Council Australia. Free CPD webinar: applying Australian Asthma Handbook updates in everyday clinical practice. https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/news/free-cpd-webinar-applying-australian-asthma-handbook-updates-in-everyday-clinical-practice
19. National Asthma Council Australia. Australian Asthma Handbook resource hub: asthma action plans. https://www.asthmahandbook.org.au/resources/asthma-actions-plans
20. Healthdirect Australia. Ventolin Inhaler: medicine information (Schedule 3, store below 30 degrees Celsius). https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/medicines/brand/amt%2C52411000168107