types of referrals
Better Access to Mental Health Care:
Medicare rebates are available for psychological treatment by registered psychologists under the Australian Government's Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative. We recommend that you visit your GP to obtain their support for a referral under Medicare’s Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative. Your GP will need to prepare a Mental Health Treatment Plan before referring you to a psychologist for treatment. Under the Better Access initiative, eligible people can receive:
Up to 10 individual sessions in a calendar year (1 January to 31 December).
Referrals cannot be provided for the full 10 sessions. A referral is for a maximum of six sessions. Your referring doctor will assess your progress after the first six sessions and determine whether further sessions are needed.
After you have reached the maximum number of allowable sessions for the calendar year you will not be eligible for any further Medicare rebates for treatment you receive from a psychologist until the new calendar year.
The cost for a psychological therapy session is greater than the Medicare rebate, so you will need to pay the difference between the charge for your session and the Medicare rebate.
Additional 10 MBS mental health sessions during COVID-19 under the Better Access Pandemic Support measure
From 9 October 2020 until 31 December 2022, 10 additional individual psychological therapy sessions, previously available only to people whose movement was restricted by a state or territory public health order, are now available each calendar year to all eligible patients under the existing Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the MBS (Better
Access) initiative.
Private Health Insurance:
You cannot use your private health insurance ancillary cover to top up the Medicare rebates.
You need to decide if you will use Medicare or your private health insurance ancillary cover to pay for any psychological services you receive. That is, you can either access rebates from Medicare by following the claiming process or claim where available on your insurer's ancillary benefits.
Chronic Disease Management - Medicare Funded:
The chronic disease management (CDM) Medicare items are part of a government initiative that assists people living with a chronic or complex medical illness to get the support and help they need from allied health professionals.
Medicare rebates are available for up to five visits (in total) within a calendar year, to certain allied health professionals assisting in the care and management of a chronic disease from a range of allied health professionals including psychologists. Your GP is required to prepare a management plan (GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements) so that your illness can be better managed with the assistance of your psychologist.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS):
Please refer to National Disability Insurance Scheme for further information.
We are not registered providers for NDIS, however, we can accept NDIS clients who are plan or self-managed.
** Upfront payment of the full fee of the consultation is required from new clients upon booking their first session. This upfront payment is NON-REFUNDABLE. Medicare rebates/private health rebates (if applicable) can be processed upon the completion of the first and subsequent sessions. **
