How to get a Mental Health Treatment Plan in Australia
A Mental Health Treatment Plan — also called a Mental Health Care Plan — is prepared by your regular local GP, and Abby Health does not provide them. Book a longer appointment with your usual GP, who will assess you and, where appropriate, prepare the plan and psychology referral. Abby Health offers Nurse Practitioner-led mental health support — assessment, short-term care and referral coordination — bulk billed for eligible patients with a valid Medicare card. Strict Bulk Billing eligibility criteria applies.
If you or someone you know is in immediate distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, or 000 in an emergency. Not a substitute for emergency care. For Abby's guidance in a crisis, see if you're in crisis — immediate support.
A Mental Health Treatment Plan — also called a Mental Health Care Plan — is prepared by your regular local GP, and Abby Health does not provide them. Your local GP is the right place to get one: the plan is built around an ongoing relationship with the GP who assesses you, refers you, and completes the reviews that unlock further Medicare-rebated psychology sessions. What Abby offers is Nurse Practitioner-led mental health support — assessment, short-term care, and help getting to the right next step, including your GP.
What a Mental Health Treatment Plan is
It is a structured plan prepared by a GP under Medicare's Better Access initiative. It records your mental health concerns and treatment goals, and it unlocks up to ten Medicare-rebated individual psychology sessions per calendar year, delivered in two blocks with a GP review in between. The official detail is on the Department of Health and Aged Care Better Access page.
How to get one
Book a longer appointment with your usual local GP and mention the plan when booking, so enough time is set aside. Your GP will talk through what has been going on, complete a structured assessment, and — where clinically appropriate — prepare the plan and a referral to a psychologist or other allied mental health professional. If you do not have a regular GP, Healthdirect's service finder can help you find one near you. Our guide to Mental Health Treatment Plans in Australia covers eligibility and costs in more detail.
If an Abby clinician prepared your plan in the past
Your local GP can complete your plan reviews and any next steps. Nothing about your existing sessions is lost — the plan and referral travel with you, and any GP can review them.
What Abby Health offers for mental health
Abby Health offers Nurse Practitioner-led mental health support. Our Nurse Practitioners are AHPRA-endorsed clinicians with specialist mental health experience. They provide assessment and short-term support for mild to moderate concerns — such as anxiety, low mood, stress, sleep difficulties and grief — along with practical strategies and coordination of referrals. Regular GP review is built into this care, and where your needs are better met by a GP, psychologist or psychiatrist — including where a Mental Health Treatment Plan would help — your clinician will say so plainly and help you get there.
Book a scheduled appointment and select a mental health reason for your visit. Appointments are available by phone or video, and are bulk billed for eligible patients with a valid Medicare card. Strict Bulk Billing eligibility criteria applies; where bulk billing does not apply, an out-of-pocket consultation fee is shown before you confirm your booking.
If you need urgent support
Abby Health is an online-first clinic, not a crisis service. If you are in immediate danger, call 000. Free, 24/7 support: Lifeline (13 11 14), the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467), Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) and 13YARN (13 92 76).
Uncompromising Care. Abby Health. Knowing someone cares.
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