Can I Get a Medicare Rebate for Counselling?

In Australia, when you want therapy, you may start with a visit to your doctor (GP) who will likely provide you with a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP). This will allow you to access Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions per year from some mental health providers. In some cases, you may be able to access bulk-billed sessions without a gay, but those therapists may have a long waitlist.

Most providers charge a higher fee than what is covered by the Medicare rebate, leaving you responsible for covering the gap fee. As at July 2025, the recommended fee set by the Australian Psychological Society for a 46-60 minute session is $315, and the rebate is either $88 for a regular psychologist or $130 for a clinical psychologist. The rebate for mental health social workers is $80, and the recommended fee is $240/hour. So you could be out of pocket up to $179 per session, even with a Medicare rebate.

Once you’ve finished the allowed number of rebatable sessions for the year, you must pay the psychologist’s full fee. In many cases, you will want to have more than 10 sessions. If so, the financial benefits of Medicare rebates will wane, as you will likely be paying a psychologist a higher fee once the rebated sessions are finished.

After the first six sessions under a Mental Health Treatment Plan, the therapist must report back to your GP, who will decide if additional sessions are needed. A further report is required after the 10th session, so the GP can determine if the additional ten sessions allowed due to Covid will benefit you. (Note that Medicare rebates can’t be used for couples counselling.)

Do all therapists offer Medicare rebates?

To access a Medicare rebate for therapy, you will need to see an eligible Registered Psychologist, Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, or Mental Health Nurse.

Registered Counsellors are not currently part of the Medicare scheme. In some ways, this makes sense, as counsellors typically work with the whole person from a non-pathological perspective. We don’t operate under the medical model, although we do help clients with their mental health problems. Beyond this, we also work with relationship and emotional problems, as well as existential concerns.

Benefits of not using Medicare

There are actually some benefits of not obtaining mental health treatment in the Medicare system.

• You won’t have a mental health record on your Medicare file or require mental health reports back to your GP (an MHTP becomes a permanent part of your health records, which can impact health and life insurance coverage and, possibly, employment opportunities). Your diagnoses, history and management plan may be available to insurers and employers in some instances.
• There is no limit to the number of funded or partially-funded sessions you can use in a calendar year.
• The absence of medical records, reporting to your GP, and time limits to funding can create a more trauma-informed therapeutic relationship, which is the key factor in successful therapy.
• You can choose the therapist of your choice, rather than being limited by those with a Medicare Provider Number.
• You can avoid being labelled with a mental health diagnosis.
• It often ends up cheaper over time. The gap fee payable to a Medicare-funded psychologist is claimable only for the approved number of sessions under the MHTP. Afterwards, the full fee is payable. If you choose to have more than the initially funded sessions, seeing a Medicare-funded therapist who charges a higher fee can become more expensive.

Although you cannot claim a Medicare rebate for counselling sessions with me, you may decide you don’t want to.

Health Fund Rebates

An alternative that may be helpful to make your therapy more affordable is to claim your counselling sessions through your health insurance. However, it does depend on your policy and your provider. I have Health Insurance provider numbers for the following funds:

• AIA Health
• AHM
• Australian Defence Force Family Program
• Bupa
• CUA Health
• Doctors Health Fund
• Emergency Services Health
• GMHBA
• Grand United
• HBF
• HCF
• Medibank Private
• Mildura Health
• Nurses & Midwives Health
• Phoenix Health
• Police Health
• See-u by HBF (previously CUA)
• St Luke’s Health
• Teachers Health
• Teachers Union Health
• Unihealth
• Westfund

If you have extras cover with one of these companies, you may be eligible for a counselling rebate. Check with your provider.

Ultimately, it’s your choice, and that’s the most important thing. You are free to choose what works for you. What are your important deciding factors? For instance, you may choose to wait for a bulk-billing psychologist and only see them for the allowable number of funded sessions. Or you may find a way to pay for private therapy from the get-go. You may decide it’s worth finding a way to pay for a therapist who specialises in your problem.

Advantages of seeing a specialist counsellor

I am the only therapist in Australia offering counselling for straight men and women who’ve discovered their partner is LGBT. Although you can’t claim a Medicare rebate with me, you may decide that it’s worth finding a way to invest in therapy with a counsellor who gets what you’re going through and is equipped to help.

I offer:

• Individual counselling sessions for straight partners and partners of trans people
• Couples counselling for those in closeted mixed-orientation marriages
• Discernment counselling (1-5 sessions) for couples on the brink of divorce. This is about helping you decide whether to separate, pursue couple therapy, or leave things as they are.
• Counselling for people forming new relationships after their “straight spouse experience.”

If you’re interested in booking a free introductory call to see if I’m the right therapist for you, you can do so via the button below.