AUSTRALIAN pathologists have formed a working party to improve early detection of meningococcal disease.

The group will also seek wider availability of a relatively new test that could diagnose the deadly disease within hours.

The chief executive officer of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Dr Debra Graves, is heading the project.

The announcement comes after the Federal Government on Monday detailed plans for a free national vaccination program targeting at-risk groups.

"Early diagnosis of this disease is vital in its treatment and as general practitioners are at the forefront of community health anything we can do to assist them in this process could help offset the spread of meningococcal," RCPA president Dr David Weedon said today.

He said it was hoped that a relatively new diagnostic test, known as the PCR test, would become the definitive test for the disease.

The test only took a few hours but was not widely performed at this stage, he explained.

"PCR testing, or polymerase chain reaction testing, can be performed in a matter of hours, but unfortunately it is done in relatively few laboratories so the results are seldom available in time to affect initial management of the disease."