Mental health plans and Medicare rebates
You can book without a plan. To claim a Medicare rebate on psychology sessions, you need a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your usual GP or MyMedicare practice. Here is how to get one and what it may cover.
What Medicare rebates cover for psychology
With a Mental Health Treatment Plan, Medicare rebates may apply to up to 10 individual psychology sessions each calendar year. The program is called Better Access.
A rebate covers part of your fee. If eligible, it is $101.55 for a general psychologist session of 50 minutes or more, and $72 for 20 to 50 minutes (MBS Online items 91170 and 91169). You get your fee and any rebate in writing before you book.
What rebates do not cover
- Counselling sessions with a counsellor, charged at $140 for 50 minutes.
- Sessions with an ADHD coach, charged at $150 for 50 minutes.
- The adult ADHD assessment, charged at $1,190 total across several sessions.
- The adult autism assessment, charged at $2,090 total across several sessions.
- The combined ADHD and autism assessment, charged at $2,490 total.
- Psychology sessions after your 10th rebated session in a calendar year.
How claiming a rebate works
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Get your plan
Your usual GP or MyMedicare practice decides whether a Mental Health Treatment Plan suits you, and prepares it with you.
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Pay your fee
You pay the full session fee by card or with Afterpay. Your fee and any rebate come in writing first.
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Claim your rebate
If eligible, the rebate is claimed after each session. Medicare pays it into the bank account linked to your record.
What is a mental health plan?
A mental health plan, or Mental Health Treatment Plan, is a plan your GP prepares with you after a talk about how you feel. It lists your goals and the support you would like. With a plan, Medicare rebates may apply to psychology sessions.
How to get one. Book an appointment with your usual GP and ask for a mental health plan. Some clinics book a longer appointment for this. Your GP asks what has been going on and may use a short questionnaire. If a plan suits you, they prepare it and refer you to a psychologist. Take along the name of the psychologist you chose, if you have one.
How many sessions. Rebates may apply to up to 10 individual sessions each calendar year. Medicare sets how many sessions each referral covers and when your GP reviews it. Your GP or Services Australia can confirm what applies to you.
What to have ready for your first session
- Your Medicare card, or the number on it.
- Your mental health plan and your GP's referral.
- The name and practice details of your GP.
- Past reports or letters you want to share.
- Notes on what you would like help with.
Before your first session, we explain how to send your plan and referral securely. We then confirm your fee and any rebate in writing. Please keep health details out of our general enquiry form.
How you pay your fee
You pay your session fee by card or with Afterpay. Afterpay splits the fee into four instalments, and its own terms and fees apply. Any Medicare rebate is claimed separately, if eligible.
Your fee and any rebate that may apply come to you in writing before you book. The cancellation policy comes in writing at the same time.
Session fees at a glance
- 20 minute session with a general psychologist: $95. A rebate may apply.
- 50 minute session with a general psychologist: $210. A rebate may apply.
- 50 minute counselling session with a counsellor: $140. No Medicare rebate applies.
Getting a GP mental health plan
Since 1 November 2025, Medicare pays for a Mental Health Treatment Plan only when your usual GP or your MyMedicare practice prepares it. A plan from a different GP or clinic may not let you claim rebates.
Your usual GP. Your usual GP is the GP or practice you see for most of your care. Ask them for a mental health plan and a referral to PsyAus Health. The North Western Melbourne PHN explains the 1 November 2025 change.
Through MyMedicare. MyMedicare is a voluntary Medicare program that links you to one general practice. If you are enrolled, a GP at that practice can prepare your plan. You can see your enrolment in your Medicare online account. If you have no regular GP, ask a practice about enrolling. Your GP decides whether a plan suits you. Medicare sets the rules and they can change.
Once you have your plan
- Tell us, and we explain how to send it securely.
- We confirm your fee and any rebate in writing first.
- You book your first session with the psychologist you chose.
See the current Medicare rules
Services Australia publishes the current rules for mental health plans, referrals and rebated psychology sessions. You can check there what applies to you, and how to claim.
Book with or without a plan
Choose your practitioner from their profiles and book online. Send us your mental health plan if you want to claim a rebate. You leave each session with an agreed next step.
Book an appointment