Cost can be a significant barrier when thinking about seeing a psychologist for the first time. In addition to this, making sense of referrals, treatment plans, and Medicare rebates isn't always straightforward. Fortunately, in November 2006, over twenty years ago, the Australian Government introduced the Medicare Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative, with the overall goals of improving access to mental health treatment and promoting better teamwork between clinicians (Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs, 2008, Chapter 6). This initiative allows Australians to easily acquire a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP), often still called a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP), which can help relieve some of financial pressure of the out-of-pocket expenses of attending therapy for people experiencing a range of common mental health diagnoses (General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration [GPMHSC], 2025).
The Better Access initiative was designed to help improve outcomes for people experiencing mental health conditions and make treatment more affordable by subsidising appointments through Medicare (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2026). Having a better understanding of how this Medicare pathway works can make getting started with therapy much easier, so this article explains what a Mental Health Treatment Plan is, what conditions are eligible, how to arrange one with your GP, what information needs to be included on a valid referral letter, and what the current rebate for a clinical psychologist is. It also answers common questions about when reviews, re-referrals, and renewals need to be completed so that you can get the most out of your plan each year before your available rebates expire.
As with all articles on this website, this information is for general educational purposes and does not constitute personalised medical or financial advice. Medicare rebates and guidelines are set by the Australian Government and are subject to change.
What is a Mental Health Treatment Plan?
A Mental Health Treatment Plan is a support plan that you may be able to arrange with your GP to assist in managing mental health issues more effectively. It is a structured plan that outlines an individual’s mental health concerns, treatment goals, and possible strategies for improvement (GPMHSC, 2025). Mental Health Treatment Plans are designed to make evidence-based psychological therapy more accessible and affordable for people experiencing a range of common mental health conditions, including things like anxiety, depression, low mood, workplace stress and burnout, grief, or adjustment difficulties, among many others (list provided below).
What Rebate Does This Provide?
With an eligible Mental Health Treatment Plan and referral letter, you can claim a Medicare rebate for up to 10 individual therapy sessions and 10 group therapy sessions with a psychologist each calendar year. Medicare currently has two rebate tiers for Australian registered psychologists, with a higher rebate provided when seeing a Clinical Psychologist.
As of the 1st of July 2026, a valid referral and Mental Health Treatment Plan provides a Medicare rebate of $149.05 per 50-minute session with a Clinical Psychologist. This rebate amount is the same whether you attend appointments face-to-face or online via telehealth.
All Australian AHPRA registered psychologists can accept Mental Health Treatment Plans and provide Medicare rebates. At Kelly Brooks Psychology, when you finalise your appointment, your claim can be processed automatically so that the rebate is deposited back into your nominated bank account by Medicare.
Conditions Eligible for a Medicare Mental Health Treatment Plan
People experiencing the following conditions, whether already formally diagnosed or provisionally diagnosed by their GP during their initial appointment, may be eligible for a GP managed Mental Health Treatment Plan (GPMHSC, 2026):
Anxiety, Stress & Trauma Disorders
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Panic Disorder (panic attacks)
Phobic Disorders (social anxiety, agoraphobia & specific phobias)
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Adjustment Disorder (stress from major life changes)
Bereavement Disorder (grief & loss)
Mood Disorders
Depression (including major & postnatal depression)
Co-Occurring Anxiety and Depression (mixed anxiety & depression)
Bipolar Disorder
Neurodevelopmental & Behavioural Conditions
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD / ADD)
Conduct Disorder (child & adolescent behavioural issues)
Enuresis (bedwetting)
Substance Use Disorders
Alcohol Use Disorder (alcohol dependency)
Drug Use Disorder (substance dependency)
Complex & Psychotic Disorders
Schizophrenia
Psychotic Disorders (acute & chronic psychosis)
Dissociative Disorder (dissociation & conversion disorder)
Eating, Sleep & Somatic Conditions
Eating Disorders (anorexia, bulimia & binge eating)
Sleep Problems (insomnia & sleep disorders)
Chronic Fatigue (burnout / neurasthenia)
Unexplained Somatic Complaints (medically unexplained physical symptoms)
Sexual Disorders (sexual dysfunction)
Mental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (other clinically significant mental health concerns)
How to Access a Plan Through Your GP
Organising a Mental Health Treatment Plan is a fairly straightforward consultation for GPs, though it requires a bit more time than a typical appointment. To help the appointment run smoothly:
Book a Mental Health Treatment Plan Establishment Session: When calling your GP’s medical clinic or booking online, ask for a longer appointment to establish a Mental Health Treatment Plan. These are usually 20 minutes and ensures your GP has enough time to talk things through with you and complete the required paperwork.
Discuss Your Current Challenges: During the appointment, your GP will ask about how you have been feeling recently, how your symptoms are affecting day-to-day life, and what your goals are for treatment. They will also usually ask you to complete a brief questionnaire to record a baseline of your current symptoms.
Obtain Your Referral Letter: In addition to preparing your treatment plan, your GP will also write a referral letter for psychology sessions. You can ask for a copy of the referral letter or to have it sent directly to your psychologist prior to your first psychology appointment.
What Needs to be Included on a Valid Referral Letter?
Sometimes clients arrive for their first appointment only to find out that a detail is missing from their paperwork, which can delay being able to provide Medicare rebates. Under Services Australia guidelines, a valid referral letter must include the following details.
Date of the Referral: The referral must be dated on or prior to the date of your first psychology session.
Patient Details: Your full name, date of birth, and address.
Clinical Condition or Diagnosis: A brief statement of the mental health condition, symptoms, or diagnosis that requires psychological treatment.
Request for Psychological Services: A clear statement requesting psychological treatment or therapy under Medicare.
Confirmation of MHTP: A clear statement that a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan has been created, or a copy of the completed plan attached (psychiatrist and paediatrician referrals do not require this).
Number of Sessions Allocated: The number of sessions you are being referred for. This is almost always 6 sessions for an initial referral.
Referring Practitioner Details: Your practitioner’s name, practice address, and Medicare Provider Number.
Practitioner's Signature: The referral letter must be signed and dated by your referring doctor.
Referrals, Reports, Reviews, Re-Referrals, & Renewals
How the 10 Medicare Rebated Sessions per Year Work
While you are eligible for up to 10 Medicare rebated sessions per calendar year, all 10 sessions cannot be issued on a single referral. Instead, Medicare breaks them up into ‘courses of treatment’ and requires a report back to your referring doctor after each course of treatment (usually your GP, but this could also be a psychiatrist or paediatrician) so that they can review how you are progressing through treatment with you (GPMHSC, 2025). This may seem like a lot of appointments and a bit of a pain at first, but regularly checking in helps promote multidisciplinary treatment approach where your treatment team keeps each other up to date and work together.
For example under a GP managed Mental Health Treatment Plan:
GP Referral: You book a Mental Health Treatment Plan establishment appointment with your GP (as discussed above) to have your plan created and obtain your referral letter requesting psychological treatment and stating that a plan has been established.
Initial Course of Treatment: Your initial GP referral typically covers sessions 1 to 6 that you attended with your psychologist, as the maximum number of sessions allowed on a referral is 6. This is your ‘initial course’ of treatment.
End of Initial Course Report: After the initial course is completed, your psychologist writes a progress update letter or ‘report’ and makes recommendations, then sends this back to your referring GP so that they know how you are progressing towards your goals.
GP Review: Once your GP receives the report they can use this to help determine if further treatment is needed. You will need to book a review appointment to discuss this with them and if they agree, they will update your Mental Health Treatment Plan and provide an updated re-referral letter approving any remaining rebated sessions and requesting additional psychological treatment.
Subsequent Course of Treatment: Once your GP review and paperwork has been completed, your re-referral typically covers sessions 7 to 10. This is your ‘subsequent course’ of treatment.
End of Subsequent Course Report: After completing your subsequent course of treatment, another report is sent back to your GP with an update and future recommendations which may include considering eligibility for a ‘renewal’ of your Mental Health Treatment Plan in the next calendar year.
GP Review in New Year: This is where the process begins again, except this time, if there aren’t any major changes to your treatment needs, your existing Mental Health Treatment Plan from the previous year is simply renewed. As you will be accessing a new course of treatment, you are given a new referral which provides access to the the new year’s refreshed allocation of 10 rebated sessions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes, you do. Under the Better Access system, the maximum number of sessions a person can be referred for at once is 6 for an initial course of treatment. So even if a referral says 10, after 6 sessions you will need a review and re-referral to access the remaining 4 sessions in a subsequent course of treatment.
Regardless of what a referral states, the maximum current allowance of Medicare rebates per year is up to 10 sessions per calendar year. This is most typically distributed over two separate referrals, with 6 session on the initial referral and 4 sessions on the subsequent referral (GPMHSC, 2025).
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No, but your rebates for that year do and will come out of the new year’s allocation instead.
While your 10 session Medicare rebate allowance resets every year on the 1st of January, your treatment plan and referral do not expire on the 31st of December. In fact, you can continue on the same Mental Health Treatment Plan indefinitely and just have it updated or renewed over time by your GP if there are no major changes to your treatment needs and you haven’t changed doctors (GPMHSC, 2025).
If you have unused rebated sessions left over in a course of treatment from a referral in the previous year, you can still use this referral to access rebates in the new calendar year, if your treatment needs have not changed. However, doing so will count towards the new year's maximum limit of 10 rebated sessions. Once a previous year has passed, the ability to access rebates from that year has also passed. For example:
In 2026, your GP refers you for 6 sessions under a Mental Health Treatment Plan to see a psychologist.
You commence treatment and attend 5 out of the 6 referred sessions.
You start to feel better, so agree to pause treatment with your psychologist.
In 2027, you decide to start seeing your psychologist again and use your existing 2026 referral.
You access the 1 remaining rebated session from the 2026 referral, but these are detracted from the 2027 calendar year’s maximum of 10 sessions, leaving you with 9 available.
The 5 unused rebates from 2026 are no longer accessible.
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No. Even if your referral letter is addressed to another psychologist, a different clinic, or simply a generic or ‘open’ referral (e.g., “Dear Psychologist…”), Medicare allows you to take that referral to any eligible psychologist you choose, provided the sessions on that referral have not already been used.
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Yes of course. If you are under the care of a psychiatrist (or paediatrician), they can write a referral letter for you to access the same type of 10 Medicare rebated sessions per year without needing to create a Mental Health Treatment Plan, it’s just called something different and doesn’t have quite the same requirements. I typically highly recommend organising your plan through your GP though, as it is usually much easier and cheaper to organise a GP appointment.
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Yes, if you are planning on organising a MHTP you can schedule your appointment ahead of time as you do not need a referral or treatment plan to attend therapy. However, if something goes wrong with your referral letter or having your MHTP created, you will not be able to obtain a Medicare rebate for that appointment. Medicare rebates also cannot be back dated to cover previous appointments.
Many people also choose to book appointments privately, or claim rebates through their Private Health Insurance if their extras policy includes psychology, then switch over to using their Medicare rebated sessions once a plan is organised. Keep in mind that you cannot claim both a Medicare rebate and a private health insurance rebate for the same session. Once all Medicare rebates are used up for the year, many people then switch back to using private health cover if they have it.
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No. Your treatment plan, referral, and therapy notes are strictly confidential medical records and do not go onto any public register. Standard employers, universities, and family members cannot access this information without your explicit written consent.
That being said, it may be relevant to know that because a Mental Health Treatment Plan is recorded on your medical file and Medicare claims history, there are a few specific situations where you may be asked to disclose it or consent to sharing your medical records where this could feasibly be identified. The most common situations this occurs in is if you are applying to join the Australian Defence Force (ADF) or police force, undergoing high-level government security clearances, or applying for a new life insurance or income protection policy. If you are concerned about this, there is the option to book and pay for psychology sessions privately without using a GP managed MHTP or Medicare.
However, if records are subpoenaed by the legal system, psychologists may be legally required to release relevant clinical files to a court. Even when sessions are paid for privately, clinical records are still subject to legal subpoenas, though only the information strictly required by the court is provided. This most commonly occurs during contested family law and parenting disputes, personal injury or workers' compensation claims, domestic violence and child protection matters, or criminal court proceedings. If any of these situations apply to you, it’s best to raise this before your starting your initial appointment so that a discussion whether commencing therapy with a clinical psychologist is in your best interests, or if a forensic psychologist or medico-legal practitioner would be more suitable at that time.
Getting Started
Hopefully you have a much better understanding of how Mental Health Treatment Plans and Medicare rebates work now. If you are thinking about obtaining a Mental Health Treatment Plan, while getting organised you might also find it helpful to read more about what to expect in your first session or explore whether telehealth online therapy is right for you.
If you would like to organise an appointment for face-to-face psychology sessions in Stones Corner or via telehealth, please feel free to reach out over email or text me at 0406 655 569 and request a call back to discuss scheduling.
Please note that Kelly Brooks Psychology is not a crisis support service. If you are in an emergency or experiencing a mental health crisis, please call Triple Zero (000) or reach out to Lifeline (13 11 14) for 24/7 support.
References
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2026, February 6). Better Access initiative. Australian Government. https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/better-access-initiative
General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration. (2025). Mental health treatment plans (MHTPs). Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. https://gpmhsc.org.au/info/detail/5422938b-a244-4a7b-be59-8b5827e676a6/mental-health-treatment-plans-mhtps
General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration. (2026). The Better Access initiative and the role of GPs. In Mental health training standards 2026–28: A guide for general practitioners. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. https://gpmhsc.org.au/guidelines/index/81028af3-12fd-41a9-9e8f-c8b51dd5dd28
Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs. (2008). Chapter 6: Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the MBS (Better Access) initiative. In Towards recovery: Mental health services in Australia. Parliament of Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/senate/community_affairs/completed_inquiries/2008-10/mental_health/report/c06
