Getting help

Your school psychologist / counsellor

School psychologists and counsellors provide assessment and treatment for children with mental health difficulties. They advise parents and carers and school staff about helping individual children and may recommend specialist services outside of school. The school psychologist or counsellor at your school can listen to your concerns and discuss options for helping your child at home and at school.

Your Medical Practitioner

Your general practitioner will give you advice or help you decide whether further investigation and treatment is needed. As your family doctor will have your child’s medical history, they will be able to understand your family’s situation which will help them decide which path is the best for your child. A doctor’s referral is needed to be able to claim the Medicare rebate for mental health treatment from other professionals. To learn more about Medicare rebates for mental health services click here.

For more information about getting help for children’s mental health difficulties see the KidsMatter resource pack available here. For a list of organisations that can help with a range of issues affecting children and families see the KidsMatter ‘Other resources’ list relating to your specific concern. These can be found on the Resources webpage.

Telephone hotlines

To access telephone advice or counselling, please call:

Lifeline 13 11 14

Life line provides information and support for a range of different mental health issues. They offer crisis support and are able to give callers information about community services.

Kids helpline 1800 55 1800

Kids helpline is a service for children and youth aged between 5-25 years that offers telephone and web counselling, support, and information about a range of issues that affect children. There is a service that offers direct support for children and youth in accessing services.

Parentline

Parentline is a confidential telephone information, counselling, and referral service for parents and carers who have children up to 18 years of age. There are different offices for every state and territory. Each state and territory service has different opening hours. Click here to find out the contact hours for your state or territory.

Find a mental health practitioner

The following sites provide web-based search functions that enable you to search for mental health professionals in your local area. Look for those who specialise in children’s mental health.

Find a Doctor or other Mental Health Practitioner on the beyondblue website. This service also enables you to find doctors, psychologists, counsellors, social workers and occupational therapists in your area who specialise in mental health.

Find a Psychologist – Australian Psychological Society web service. This database can help you identify a psychologist in your area who specialises in providing assessment and treatment for children.

The Yellow pages may also be useful for finding a mental health practitioner in your area.

There are also some websites that have search functions that are limited to a particular state or territory

• The Better Health Channel Health Services Search provides information on both private mental health professionals and public mental health services for all areas in Victoria. Select those that specialise in children’s mental health.
• The Government of Western Australia’s Department of Health Mental Health Service Directory can help you find mental health and support services in WA. Choose ‘Child and adolescent’ in the drop down Service type menu.
• The NSW Health website has a Search Health Services database in which you can find health and support services for children in NSW. Select ‘Child health services’ from the Service type menu and look for those that specialise in mental health.
• The ACT health website has a list of mental health and support services for children and their families in the ACT.
• The SACommunity website (formerly Infosearch) is a searchable health service database developed by CISA. It provides information on health and support services in South Australia. Search for ‘child mental health’ and select your local area.

For more information on the types of mental health professionals who can help with children’s difficulties see the KidsMatter overview titled How mental health difficulties affect children.

Find out more

More information on specific mental health difficulties for children is available in the KidsMatter Primary resource packs. These are available for download from the Resources webpage. There are packs that contain detailed information about child anxiety, depression, ADHD, behavioural problems, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. These packs also contain practical suggestions for supporting children’s mental health and provide links to support agencies.

Medicare rebates

In November 2006, the Australian Government extended the Medicare Benefits Scheme to include mental health care treatments for adults and children experiencing mental health difficulties and problems (the Better Access to Mental Health Care Program). This extension provides those experiencing mental health problems with the ability to access a Medicare rebate for services provided by an eligible allied health care professional (including psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists or social workers). Mental health problems that can be treated using the scheme are not limited to, but include:

• Anxiety, phobias and depression
• Behaviour problems
• Difficulties in controlling emotions (including anger)
• Sleep problems
• Concentration and attention problems
• Bed-wetting and other toileting problems
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Developmental Disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder **

I’m concerned and would like to access the Mental Health Care Plan for my child, what do I need to do?Medicare has worked with health professionals to make the process of accessing a rebate as streamlined as possible.  Below is an indication of the steps you will need to take:

Step 1: Make an appointment

Make an appointment with your child’s General Practitioner (GP), paediatrician or psychiatrist as soon as possible:

• If you have an existing appointment with your child’s paediatrician or psychiatrist, use this to discuss your concerns.
• If you have made an appointment with your child’s GP, request that this appointment be a Mental Health Care Consultation (this is a specific appointment type that is longer than a typical appointment enabling your concerns to be heard and necessary forms to be completed).
• In some cases, children will already be accessing the services of an eligible allied health practitioner however the rebate cannot be accessed without having a referral from an appropriate medical professional.

Step 2: Requirements of eligibility for a Medicare rebate

To ensure that your child is eligible for assistance, your chosen medical professional will discuss your concerns with you (and your child where appropriate) and the following will occur:

• Your child’s GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician will assess your child as having a mental health problem that is covered by the extended Medicare rebates.
• If your child’s GP is making the referral, a Mental Health Care Plan will be written and submitted to Medicare.
• Your chosen medical professional can then refer you to an eligible allied health professional and you can begin seeking and receiving assistance.

Although any Australian citizen/resident with a Medicare card is eligible to apply for a Mental Health Care Plan, not all mental health care providers can provide services. The following requirements are made of providers:

• Eligible allied health professionals include psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers who have specialised in the treatment of mental health problems.
• The provider must have a Medicare number.

What exactly is the rebate and what are the costs incurred?

The Better Access to Mental Health Care Program provides individuals with the following:

• 10 sessions of treatment with an appropriate allied health professional per year
• 10 group therapy sessions where these services are available and are seen as appropriate by the referring doctor

The cost of services and the rebate available from Medicare varies according to the length of the session and the fee being charged. Fees are determined by the allied health professional. If there is a gap between the consultation fee and the Medicare rebate, you will be responsible for the additional payment. You cannot use private health insurance extras cover to cover the out of pocket expense.

What about confidentiality?

Similar to all medical and mental health information, the Mental Health Plan created by your medical team and submitted to Medicare is covered by the appropriate privacy of information acts. Medicare will have a record of your visit and the reason for your visit, however they are unable to give out this information without your permission (unless strict legal exemptions have been applied).

More information:

The Better Access to Mental Health Care Program is also available for many adolescent and adult mental health problems. Further information can be found by downloading:

• The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing fact sheet for consumers
• The  Australian Psychological Society fact sheet for consumers
• The beyondblue fact sheet for consumers
• The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners fact sheet for consumers

**If your GP assesses your child as requiring assessment or treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers Disorder or Pervasive Developmental Disorder your child may also be eligible for a Medicare rebate under the Helping Children With Autism Program. Your child may be eligible for up four assessment sessions and 20 treatment sessions with an eligible allied health professional across their lifespan. Eligible allied health professionals include psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, audiologists, optometrists, orthoptists and physiotherapists who specialise in assessing and/or treating developmental disorders. Eligible allied health professionals must have a Medicare provider number. Further information can be found by downloading:

• The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing fact sheet for parents