Online Doctor Consultation in Australia: What to Expect, What It Costs
An online doctor consultation is a consult with an Australian-registered GP that happens by phone or video instead of in a clinic room. The clinical content is the same: the doctor takes a history, asks questions, examines what can be examined remotely, makes a clinical decision, and issues whatever's needed — script, certificate, referral, pathology request, follow-up plan.
What changes is the channel, not the medicine.
A few things worth knowing up front:
It's a real medical consult. The doctor is an Australian GP, registered with AHPRA, working under the same Medical Board guidelines that apply to face-to-face care. The medical record is the same. The duty of care is the same.
Phone or video — both count. Most online consults in Australia happen by phone, because phone works on any device, anywhere with reception. Video consults are available too and are often used for visual assessments — a rash, a swollen joint, a baby's eye. Medicare reimburses both.
Time is similar to a face-to-face consult. A standard online GP consult is around 10–15 minutes for a focused issue, longer for complex care, exactly as it would be in a clinic. The doctor isn't in a hurry just because you're not in the waiting room.
It's covered by Medicare for eligible patients. Telehealth consults attract Medicare rebates the same way face-to-face consults do, subject to Medicare's telehealth rules — most importantly, the 12-month face-to-face rule we cover below.
Online consults are well-suited to a wide range of primary care, but not everything. Knowing the difference matters.
Online consults work well for:
- Repeat scripts and prescription reviews where the medication is established and stable
- Medical certificates for routine illness — colds, flu, gastro, migraines
- Most mental health concerns, including referrals for psychology and Mental Health Care Plans (with the appropriate face-to-face history)
- Skin issues that can be assessed by photo or video — rashes, eczema flares, suspected fungal infections
- Sexual and reproductive health — contraception advice, STI screening, period-related concerns, pregnancy queries
- Chronic disease management — reviewing blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, with home-monitoring data
- Pathology requests and result follow-ups
- Specialist referrals
- Travel health advice (vaccinations need to be booked at a clinic that stocks them)
Online consults are less suited to:
- Anything that needs a hands-on physical examination — abdominal pain that may be appendicitis, suspected fractures, ear examinations for young children, certain neurological assessments
- Skin lesions that may be cancerous and need direct dermatoscope examination
- First-time prescriptions for certain mental health medications, where Medical Board guidance recommends face-to-face assessment
- Schedule 8 controlled medications in most circumstances
- Acute mental health crises requiring immediate in-person support
A well-run online clinic is clear about its scope. If your doctor says "this one needs to be seen in person", that's good clinical judgement, not a failure of telehealth.
A note on emergencies: an online doctor consultation is not for emergencies. If you have chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, signs of stroke, severe bleeding, suspected anaphylaxis, or you're in danger, call Triple Zero (000) or go to your nearest emergency department.
The 5–10 minutes before your consult will determine how useful the consult is. A doctor who has the right context in the first minute will get further with you in 10 minutes than a doctor who has to dig.
Be somewhere private and quiet. Online consults are real consults, and they're confidential. A locked room, your car, a quiet corner of the house. Not on speakerphone in the supermarket.
Have your Medicare card ready. Card number, individual reference number, expiry. Usually the clinic captures this at booking, but have it open in case.
Write down your three things. What's the main reason you're consulting? What's the second thing you want to mention? What's the question you're scared to ask? Bring all three. The doctor would rather know up front than chase them halfway through.
List your current medications. Including over-the-counter, supplements, and anything you take "as needed". The doctor can't safely prescribe without knowing what's already on board.
Know your allergies and any reactions. Especially to medications. A penicillin allergy in the wrong place is dangerous.
Recent observations help. If you've taken your blood pressure at home, weighed yourself, taken your temperature, photographed a rash — bring the data. If you're worried about a particular symptom, photograph or video what's happening if relevant.
Be honest about what's been tried. "I tried these tablets and stopped because they made me feel weird" is useful information. Hiding it isn't.
Have your phone or device charged and the line stable. If video, test the camera. If audio, make sure you're somewhere with reception. Most online clinics will call you, but the line drops the same way at both ends.
1. The doctor calls (or video calls) you. Usually within the booked window. If you're using a first-available queue, the call comes when a doctor is free — keep the phone close.
2. Identity check. The doctor confirms your name, date of birth, and Medicare details. This is required under Medicare and Medical Board guidance — they're confirming they're talking to the right patient before issuing anything clinical.
3. The history. "Tell me what brings you in." This is your moment. Lead with the main concern, the timeline, what makes it worse, what makes it better, what you've tried. The doctor will steer with questions.
4. The examination — what's possible by phone or video. A doctor can hear coughs and breathing patterns. They can see rashes, swelling, skin changes, eye redness, and body language clearly on video. They can ask you to press an abdomen and describe what you feel. They can't replace a stethoscope, an ear examination, or palpation — and they'll tell you if that's what's needed.
5. The decision. The doctor makes a clinical call: prescribe, order tests, refer, certify, advise self-care, or recommend in-person assessment. They'll explain what they're recommending and why.
6. The artefacts. If you need a script, a certificate, a referral, a pathology request, the doctor issues it during the consult and sends it electronically. eScripts arrive as a token via SMS that pharmacies can dispense from. Certificates and referrals arrive by email.
7. The follow-up. A good consult ends with a plan: what you're doing next, when to come back, what would change the picture. If pathology is ordered, the doctor will tell you when to expect results and how you'll be told.
A typical online consult takes 10–15 minutes for a focused issue. Longer consults are available for complex matters — preventive health checks, mental health planning, chronic disease management. A clinic that runs everyone through a fixed 7-minute slot regardless of what they're consulting about isn't doing primary care; it's doing a transaction.
The Medicare-rebated price. Standard GP telehealth consults attract Medicare rebates under specific item numbers — phone consults under item 91890 and similar, video under 91800 and similar, with longer-consult and chronic-disease items for complex care. The rebate is set by the federal government and is the same as the equivalent face-to-face consult.
Bulk billed: $0 on the day. If the clinic bulk bills eligible patients, you pay nothing for the consult itself. The clinic accepts the Medicare rebate as full payment. Eligibility requires a current Medicare card and compliance with Medicare's telehealth rules. We've written a full explainer on bulk billed online doctor consults if that's the route you're choosing.
Gap-paid: rebate plus a gap fee. Some clinics charge a gap on top of the Medicare rebate. The gap can be anywhere from $20 to $80 or more for a standard consult. Medicare reimburses you (or the clinic, if they claim the rebate) for the rebate portion; you cover the gap.
Private fees (no Medicare claim). If you don't have a Medicare card, or if your consult doesn't fit Medicare's telehealth rules, you'll be charged a private fee. The amount varies by clinic and consult length.
What's not in the consult fee. Medication is separate (PBS or private prescription cost). Pathology and imaging are separate, though many providers bulk bill eligible patients. Specialist consults after a referral are separate. Allied health is separate.
The 12-month face-to-face rule, briefly. Since 2022, Medicare-funded telehealth has required an existing relationship with the practice — a face-to-face consult in the previous 12 months — with several exceptions including children under 12 months, residential aged care, disaster-affected areas, sexual and reproductive health, and a few clinical categories. New patients without that history can usually still book, but the first consult is typically not Medicare-rebated.
If cost is a concern, ask the clinic plainly: "What will I pay on the day?" A reputable Australian clinic answers that question without flinching.
Care that understands you.
eScripts. Most online prescriptions come as eScripts — a token sent by SMS or email. You show the token to any Australian pharmacy and they dispense the medication. eScripts work the same way at any pharmacy in the country, including chemist warehouses, hospital pharmacies, and rural pharmacies. PBS co-payments apply at the pharmacy, the same as a face-to-face script.
For repeat medications, ask about an Active Script List — it lets the pharmacy access all your current scripts in one place, which is useful if you're on several medications. We've covered online prescription refills in detail elsewhere.
Medical certificates. Issued by email during or just after the consult. The certificate states the practitioner's name, AHPRA registration, the date of issue, the period covered, and a brief reason. Australian law doesn't require the certificate to disclose your diagnosis — only that you're unfit for work or carer duty for the stated period. We cover this in detail in our doctor's note vs medical certificate post.
Referrals. A GP referral to a specialist is valid for 12 months from the date of issue, unless an indefinite referral is appropriate (for example, for an ongoing chronic condition). The referral arrives by email, and you take it to the specialist of your choice — your GP can suggest specialists who bulk bill or who have shorter wait times, but the choice is yours.
Pathology and imaging requests. The doctor sends the request electronically to the pathology provider, or gives you a printed/emailed request to take to your provider of choice. Pathology results come back to the doctor; how you're told depends on the result and the clinic's protocol — most clinics will message non-urgent results and call for anything that needs a same-day conversation.
Follow-up consults. If your doctor wants to see you again — to recheck a symptom, review pathology results, adjust a medication — they'll book the follow-up at the end of the consult. Continuity matters here. Seeing the same GP each time, where possible, means they have the full picture and you don't have to start from zero.
Records. Your consult is recorded in the clinic's medical record system, governed by Australian privacy law. The record is yours — you can request a copy at any time. If you're seeing several doctors, ask them to share records with each other (with your permission) so no one's working blind.
Abby Health is an online-first clinic. Phone or video consults with Australian-registered GPs, available within the hour, seven days a week.
What this looks like in practice:
- Every Abby Health practitioner holds current AHPRA registration
- Bulk billed for eligible patients with a valid Medicare card
- Most patients seen within the hour, including evenings and weekends
- The doctor starts informed — Abby's record system surfaces your previous consults so you don't have to repeat your story
- Three in four patients book again with a doctor they've seen before — continuity is the part that matters
- Honest scope. If something needs to be seen in person, your GP says so and points you to the right service. We don't pretend telehealth solves everything.
- Records stored under Australian privacy law, governed by an Australian-registered Chief Medical Officer (Dr Ramu Nachiappan, 35 years of GP experience) and Clinical Director (Dr Bosco Wu, AMA NSW Council Member)
You can book a consultation and a GP will be with you, usually within the hour. Bulk billed for eligible patients with a valid Medicare card.
Find Comfort. Abby Health. Care that understands you.
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The information reflects guidance available as of the "last updated" date shown above. Medical knowledge evolves, and individual circumstances vary — always discuss decisions about your care with a qualified clinician.
In an emergency, call 000 or attend your nearest emergency department. Abby Health is not an emergency service. For mental health crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
If you have feedback or believe any information in this article requires correction, please contact our editorial team at support@abbyhealth.app. Abby Health complies with AHPRA advertising standards and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.
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