Fee schedule
Medicare psychology items 2026-27
Medicare item 10968 pays a psychologist $74.55 (rebate $63.40) for chronic disease care. Under Better Access, a registered psychologist earns $84.65 to $150.00 depending on session length and location (items 80100 to 80115), while a clinical psychologist earns $119.45 to $205.10 for the same structure (items 80000 to 80015), roughly 40 to 55 per cent more for the same session.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
- Payer
- Medicare
- Effective from
- 1 Jul 2026
- Official schedule
- Source document
What changed this year
- Every Better Access item on this page carries a schedule fee update dated 1 July 2026 on MBS Online, so this is the current fee, not a projection.
- A clinical psychologist's minimum billable session is 30 minutes; a registered psychologist's is 20 minutes. For the shortest tier each can bill, a clinical psychologist earns $119.45 against a registered psychologist's $84.65, about 41 per cent more.
- The out of rooms items (80105, 80115, 80005, 80015) pay noticeably more than the equivalent in rooms items for both registration types, reflecting travel time built into the fee rather than a separate travel allowance.
- Occupational therapists and social workers also bill focused psychological strategies under Better Access (items 80125 to 80176), at the same fee level as each other and lower than both psychology tiers; that comparison sits on the occupational therapy page in this batch.
All 11 psychology items
| Item | Description | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 10968 | Psychology service, individual, by an eligible psychologist, at least 20 minutes, under a GP chronic condition management plan (rebate 85% = $63.40) | $74.55 |
| 80100 | Better Access, registered psychologist, focused psychological strategies, in rooms, 20 to less than 50 minutes (rebate 85% = $72.00) | $84.65 |
| 80105 | Better Access, registered psychologist, out of rooms, 20 to less than 50 minutes (rebate 85% = $97.85) | $115.10 |
| 80110 | Better Access, registered psychologist, in rooms, 50 minutes or more (rebate 85% = $101.55) | $119.45 |
| 80115 | Better Access, registered psychologist, out of rooms, 50 minutes or more (rebate 85% = $127.50) | $150.00 |
| 80120 | Better Access, registered psychologist, group of 4 to 10 patients, 60 minutes (rebate 85% = $25.90) | $30.45 |
| 80000 | Better Access, clinical psychologist, psychological therapy, in rooms, 30 to less than 50 minutes (rebate 85% = $101.55) | $119.45 |
| 80005 | Better Access, clinical psychologist, out of rooms, 30 to less than 50 minutes (rebate 85% = $126.90) | $149.25 |
| 80010 | Better Access, clinical psychologist, in rooms, 50 minutes or more (rebate 85% = $149.05) | $175.30 |
| 80015 | Better Access, clinical psychologist, out of rooms, 50 minutes or more (rebate 85% = $174.35) | $205.10 |
| 80020 | Better Access, clinical psychologist, group of 4 to 10 patients, 60 minutes (rebate 85% = $37.85) | $44.50 |
One chronic disease item, and a much bigger Better Access scale
Item 10968 is psychology's version of the standard chronic condition management item every allied health discipline shares: $74.55, at least 20 minutes, a GP chronic condition management plan, and a 5-service cap pooled across whatever disciplines the patient sees that year. It is a small part of what most psychology practices actually bill.
The bulk of Medicare-funded psychology work runs through Better Access to Mental Health Care instead, a completely separate referral pathway (a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan, or referral from a psychiatrist or paediatrician) with its own fee scale that varies by two things: how long the session runs, and whether the treating psychologist holds general registration or the AHPRA area of practice endorsement in clinical psychology.
The Better Access table: session length and registration both move the fee
A registered psychologist's Better Access fee starts at $84.65 for a 20 to 50 minute session in rooms (80100) and rises to $150.00 for 50 minutes or more delivered out of rooms (80115). A clinical psychologist's equivalent scale starts higher, at $119.45 for their shortest billable session (30 to 50 minutes, in rooms, 80000), and tops out at $205.10 for 50 minutes or more out of rooms (80015). Out of rooms items pay more than in rooms items at every duration, for both registration types, which is how Medicare prices the travel time into a home or facility visit rather than adding a separate allowance.
Group therapy breaks this pattern: both registration types drop to a flat per-client fee for a 60 minute group of 4 to 10 patients, $30.45 for a registered psychologist and $44.50 for a clinical psychologist, well below even the shortest individual session fee.
Why the same client visit can bill two different amounts
The most common confusion for practices and patients alike is that a psychologist's Medicare rebate is not fixed, it depends on which of two registrations they hold and how long the session ran. A 45 minute session with a registered psychologist bills 80100 ($84.65); the identical 45 minutes with a clinical psychologist bills 80000 ($119.45), a 41 per cent difference for a session of the same length treating the same presenting issue. Patients researching their own out of pocket costs need to know which registration their practitioner holds before comparing quoted fees against the schedule.
For clinics, the practical risk is billing a clinical psychologist's session under the lower registered psychologist item by habit, which under-claims the practice's revenue, or the reverse, which risks an incorrect Medicare claim if the treating practitioner does not actually hold the clinical endorsement.
Claiming notes
- 10968 follows the standard chronic condition management rules: GP chronic condition management plan (or transitional GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangement), referral, at least 20 minutes, sharing the 5-service annual cap across every discipline the patient sees.
- Better Access items need referral under a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan (or from a psychiatrist or paediatrician). At the completion of a course of treatment, the referring practitioner must review the need for further treatment, and the psychologist must give a written report on assessments, treatment provided and recommendations for future management.
- Session length bands are strict: 20 to less than 50 minutes for a registered psychologist, 30 to less than 50 minutes for a clinical psychologist, or 50 minutes or more for either. A 48 minute session with a clinical psychologist does not meet either of their bands and cannot be billed under 80000/80005.
- Registration matters, not just qualification. A psychologist without the AHPRA area of practice endorsement in clinical psychology can only bill the registered psychologist items (80100 to 80120), regardless of experience; the higher clinical psychologist items require the endorsement.
- Group therapy (80120, 80020) needs 4 to 10 patients and at least 60 minutes, delivered in person, and is priced well below the individual items, reflecting the shared delivery model.
- 10968 and the Better Access items are entirely separate claiming pathways with separate referral types. A patient's use of one does not reduce what they can access under the other.
- Patients cannot claim an MBS benefit and a private health insurance extras benefit for the same service, under either pathway.
Load these fees into your practice software
- Set up 10968 and the Better Access items as clearly separate groups in Cliniko, since they come from different referral types (a GP chronic condition management plan versus a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan) and staff need to know which one a new referral belongs to before booking.
- With eleven items spanning two registration types, load them through Cliniko's Billable items CSV import (Settings, Data & docs, Data imports) rather than one at a time, naming each row by registration type and session band, for example "Medicare 80100 FPS Rooms 20-50min (Registered Psych)" versus "Medicare 80000 Psych Therapy Rooms 30-50min (Clinical Psych)", so the fee cannot be mismatched to the wrong practitioner's registration.
- If your practice has both registered and clinical psychologists, tag each practitioner's Cliniko profile with their registration type so the booking system (or your reception process) only offers the matching item set.
- For the group items (80120, 80020), set Cliniko's group appointment pricing to charge per attendee at $30.45 or $44.50 respectively, not a flat class fee.
- Leave Taxable blank for all these items, since psychology consultations under Medicare are GST-free health services.
- Both 10968 and the Better Access items bulk bill through the same Cliniko Tyro Health connection. Cliniko's help centre uses this Medicare workflow as its reference point when explaining how DVA claiming works in the platform.
Sources
- Effective 1 July 2026, MBS item 10968 (psychology, individual chronic condition management service) has a schedule fee of $74.55 with an 85 per cent benefit of $63.40, for a service of at least 20 minutes under a GP chronic condition management plan. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- MBS item 80100 (registered psychologist, focused psychological strategies, in rooms, 20 to less than 50 minutes) has a schedule fee of $84.65; item 80115 (out of rooms, 50 minutes or more) has a schedule fee of $150.00; item 80120 (group, 60 minutes) has a schedule fee of $30.45, all effective 1 July 2026. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- MBS item 80000 (clinical psychologist, psychological therapy, in rooms, 30 to less than 50 minutes) has a schedule fee of $119.45; item 80015 (out of rooms, 50 minutes or more) has a schedule fee of $205.10; item 80020 (group, 60 minutes) has a schedule fee of $44.50, all effective 1 July 2026. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Better Access items require the psychologist to review the need for further treatment with the referring practitioner at completion of a course of treatment, and to give a written report on assessments, treatment provided and recommendations for future management. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Patients can access up to 5 MBS-supported individual chronic condition management services per calendar year across items 10950 to 10970 combined. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's data import tool can create billable items from a CSV with the fields Item code, Name, Price (ex. tax), Taxable and Item type. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's help centre confirms Medicare bulk bills are processed through the Tyro Health (formerly Medipass) integration, and uses that as the comparison point for how DVA claiming works in Cliniko. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.