Mental Health Treatment Plan
A mental health treatment plan lets you claim up to 20 sessions with a mental health professional each calendar year.
To start with, your doctor or psychiatrist will refer you for up to 6 sessions at a time. If you need more, they can refer you for further sessions. Health professionals set their own fees, so we may only cover some of the cost. Ask how much you’ll pay and what you’ll get back from us when you make your appointment. If they bulk bill, you won’t have to pay anything. If you have private health insurance, you may be able to get some money back. You can check with your insurer.
Rural and Remote Services
If you live in a remote area, it might be hard to see a mental health professional. You may be able to have a telehealth video consultation instead. You can claim for video consultation sessions with a mental health professional.
Ask your GP or mental health professional if they offer this service.
More information on rural and remote Medicare services:
Private Health Cover
Private health insurance can assist with some of the costs related to health services you access. Each private health fund is different in what they charge and is also dependent on what level of services you want. For example, there can be bronze, silver and gold levels of insurance and these can be just for extras and/or hospital cover. Each level will cover a certain amount of the fee and/or will have an overall limit as to how much funding you can use over one year.
It is worthwhile considering how often you will use services that directly support your needs, the costs and compare to how much you will be paying in private health insurance. You may find if you use services infrequently, it may be cheaper in the long term to pay for the service each time you use it.
Disability Support Pension (DSP)
The disability support pension is financial support for when you are unable to work due to a permanent physical, intellectual or psychiatric condition. You have to access this through Centrelink.
There are two rules that you will need to meet:
- Non-medical rules and
- Medical rules
Non-medical rules are:
- Be aged between 16 and the age pension age
- Meet the Australian residency rules and
- Meet the income and assets test
Medical rules are:
If you meet all of these rules, you may be able to get DSP.
For more information on accessing the disability support pension:
