The Australian Child & Adolescent Mental Health Library

Consider a referral when difficulties with mood, anxiety, sleep, behaviour or attention have lasted more than a few weeks and are affecting school, friendships or family life. Severe presentations — suicidality, possible psychosis, severe eating-disorder behaviours — need urgent assessment via a GP, CAMHS or paediatric emergency department.

A child psychiatrist is a medical doctor (FRANZCP) who can diagnose mental-health conditions and prescribe medication. A child psychologist is an AHPRA-registered specialist in assessment and evidence-based therapy (CBT, family therapy) but cannot prescribe. Many families benefit from both — psychiatry for diagnosis and medical care, psychology for weekly therapy.

Ask your GP or paediatrician for a referral letter to a child and adolescent psychiatrist. With a valid referral, your family can claim a Medicare rebate on each consultation under MBS items 291, 293, 296, 297 and 299. You don't need a Mental Health Care Plan — that's for psychology.

Most private child psychiatrists in NSW currently offer first appointments within 4–10 weeks, with telehealth often the fastest pathway. Developmental paediatrician waitlists commonly run 9–24 months. For urgent presentations, contact your local CAMHS or a paediatric emergency department.

Fees vary by clinician. A first appointment is typically 60–90 minutes; private fees commonly range $500–$900 with a Medicare rebate of about $200–$300 under MBS items 291–297. Telehealth has the same rebate as in-person care for most items. Bulk-billed child psychiatry is uncommon.

Yes — telehealth is widely used in Australian child and adolescent psychiatry, particularly for follow-up reviews and for regional families. Medicare rebates for telehealth psychiatry are equivalent to in-person care for most consultation items. Video is the standard medium; phone-only attendances apply only in specific circumstances.

Stimulant medication for ADHD is initiated by an authorised paediatrician or psychiatrist holding state stimulant authority. GPs typically continue prescriptions under shared-care arrangements once treatment is stable. NSW and Queensland are progressively expanding GP roles in continuation prescribing.

Common items are MBS 291 (initial consultant assessment with management plan, ≥45 minutes), 293 and 296 (subsequent attendances ≥45 minutes), 297 (long attendance ≥75 minutes) and 299 (review of management plan). A standard GP referral letter is sufficient — a Mental Health Care Plan isn't required for psychiatry rebates.

ADHD, anxiety disorders, depression, autism spectrum disorder, OCD, eating disorders, trauma and PTSD, school refusal, conduct and emerging personality concerns, sleep problems with mental-health overlap, suspected psychosis, and complex comorbid presentations across the 0–18 age range, with some clinicians extending to age 25.

Bring the GP referral, the child's Medicare card, school reports from the past 1–2 years, any previous psychology, paediatrics or psychiatry letters, a current medication list, and notes on what worries you most and when it began. A teacher report is often the single most useful document.